Minutes to Midnight
by Illidan the Half Demon
Summary: After leaving Duel Academy the previous year, Illidan and Marie expected to relax and raise their daughter and lead a normal life, but no such luck. An evil has arisen once more, and it has one thing in mind: Apocalypse. Sequel to Forgotten Guardians
1. Chapter 1: Championship Duel

Chapter 1

**Hey there everyone! Well, it's been a few months, and not much has really been heard of from me, so I'm sure everyone is curious what's up. First off, life is good as usual. No problems right now. My grandfather is doing well as before, and seems to still have good memory, for the most part. Rarely, he will talk off the wall, but normally he's still with it.**

**Next, I'm still working on **_**Another**_** and **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. Neither are completely finished, just so all of you know in case you're wondering why I'm not posting three chapters a week instead of two. It will finish, but it's not at the moment, so no worries.**

**Ok, I would like to thank all of you for patiently waiting for this story. I was curious to see where it would stand myself back in February when **_**Forgotten Guardians **_**ended, but I must say, I'm pleased with it's progress. So, no worries, this thing will continue on.**

**Before I begin the chapter, I would like to thank my co-author ardee. His ideas on this story thus far have been terrific. Working with him has been a real pleasure, and I can see he's a rather talented writer. So, thank you so very much ardee for all of your help.**

**As I mentioned in the last story, **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** will mark the end of the Illidan and Marie series. Their story ends here, which is kind of sad, but at the same time good I suppose. Heh, I don't want to drag it any further, so this is it for our lovely couple. Their days of future stories are over.**

**At any rate, I do hope you all will enjoy this story. Me and ardee have worked hard on it, and I think that it will work out really well. That's about all I have, other than the disclaimer, so I hope you all enjoy, and starting Friday, I'll begin answering reviews, like always. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh GX, Yugioh, or any other anime or characters within this story. I do however lay claim to Marie and Illidan, although Illidan's name is borrowed, lol. At any rate, if you wish to use my characters, let me know and we'll discuss it.**

**And without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 1**

The roar of the crowd was nearly deafening when a young man with mid-back length brown hair that was unbound, with brown eyes, a fair face, and a lean, toned body walked out from the tunnel to the locker rooms. He wore a simple black shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing a white undershirt, and a pair of blue jeans. On his belt was a deck holder and on his left arm was the newest model of Duel Disks from Kaiba Corp.

"Let's give it up for the first of our two finalists! From Kyoto, Japan, he is one of the newest stars of the Pro Dueling League, Illidan Stormrage!" the announcer belted out over the intercom system of the dueling arena.

Smirking at the sound of hearing Illidan's name being called out was a woman with long brown hair that reached her lower back and dark brown eyes, wearing a purple blouse with a blue jean skirt smiled. She held a small child in her arms that had light brown hair and brown eyes and smiled once more at the child and then looked down at the man entering the dueling ring. Their eyes met, and she knew he saw her, making her smile again.

The baby in her arms lightly gurgled, making the woman look down and smile at her, saying "There's your daddy Arya."

Cooing back, the baby smiled lightly and giggled. Looking back down at Illidan, the woman smiled happily once more.

Glancing up at the woman in the stands that held his daughter, Illidan softly smiled. "_Marie and Arya are rooting for me it seems._" he mused in his mind.

Thinking back to how life was so different from the Academy, he softly smiled at the memories. After the trip the pair had won for summer break, Illidan and Marie decided to leave Duel Academy, with Illidan making a decision to professionally duel so he could spend more time with his pregnant wife. Months had passed by since that decision, with Illidan being happy over it. He had spent time competing in tournaments and other Pro League events, easily earning enough money to support himself, Marie, and they're soon to arrive bundle of joy. After New Years, Marie had given birth to their first child, a daughter like Marie had predicted, and named her Arya. With little thought, the couple immediately named Yugi and Tea as the godparents of their child, ensuring that if something were to happen, that Arya would be taken care of. It was now a month later, and Illidan had begun competing once more in tournaments.

Looking up once more at his beautiful soul mate, Illidan lightly chuckled at himself for still being so amazed at her devotion, beauty, and innate ability to keep him so steady in life. With a smile, he waved to his wife, earning him a smile back from her.

"Good luck!" she yelled out, which he barely heard over the roar of the crowd.

"_Luck, as if I need it. After all, the guy I'm going up against never has done very well against me in any kind of duel._" Illidan mused.

Clearing his throat, the announcer's voice cut through the air once more, saying "And now, from the United States, former Intercontinental Champion Bandit Keith!"

A loud series of deafening boos were let loose as a man with blonde hair covered with an American flag bandanna, wearing sunglasses, a black leather vest with a red t-shirt underneath, black leather pants, and a Duel Disk. The man just sneered at the sound of the boos and continued on till he arrived at the dueling ring where Illidan awaited.

Snidely staring at Illidan, Bandit Keith snarled "You may have beaten me in that Tournament of Power, punk, but you're going down!"

"Are we here to duel or dream?" Illidan teased.

Keith was about to answer when the announcer broke in, saying "The following duel is for the Japanese National Championship, and the winner shall be crowned soon enough. Duelists, activate your Duel Disks and standby!"

Both pulled out their decks and shuffled them. Each then tossed their decks into their Deck Slot, making both Duel Disks begin to glow. Holding their arms out, both watched as their Duel Disks pushed their blade like arms out and shoot a hidden blade out of itself. Instantly, both life point counters climbed to 8000, leaving the two ready to duel.

"Duelists, draw your first five cards. Once done so, Illidan, you may begin the duel!" the announcer bellowed.

Following directions, the pair drew their first five cards, crying out to one another "LET'S DUEL!"

Drawing his sixth card, Illidan examined it and pondered on his strategy. "_For now, I should play defensive. Who knows what surprises Keith might actually have in stored for me. Besides, once I figure out what his strategy is, I can use it against him._"

Pulling a card from his hand, Illidan placed it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I'll set a monster in defense."

Instantly, a horizontal hologram card image appeared out in front of him.

"I think that's enough to start out with." (Illidan 8000, Keith 8000)

Sneering at Illidan, Keith drew and arrogantly asked "Is that all the great Illidan Stormrage has for me!? I'll rip you to shreds quickly with this, my X-Head Cannon (1800/1600)!"

Slapping the card onto his Duel Disk, Keith once more sneered as a blue and yellow machine robot with twin cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest appeared. The robot appeared to be hovering above the ground on a small spiked ball structure, and clenched it's fists as it took up an offensive pose.

Eying the creature, Illidan rolled his eyes. "_Same old Keith... I saw that stupid machine monster more times than I care to in both Tournament of Power and Duel Academy._"

"Blast his face down with Cannon Menace!" Keith commanded, breaking Illidan from his thoughts.

Taking aim with both barrels, the machine creature's twin barrels began glowing with golden energy at the tips till finally two twin blasts came flying out. The blasts struck the face down card image, shattering it and revealing an elf warrior wearing a green armor with brown clothing underneath. He held up his sword, trying to defend himself, but the blast tore through him, easily destroying him and kicking up a small bit of smoke.

"_So much for Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200)._" Illidan grumbled.

Smirking at his handiwork, Keith placed a card in his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I set this face down and end my turn." (Illidan 8000, Keith 8000)

Picking up a new card, Illidan smirked lightly and commented "That wasn't a surprising move by you Keith, but watch this one. I summon Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900)!"

Forming onto the field was a small orange dragon with dull grey armor surrounding a majority of it's body. It had short stubbing wings and clawed hands protected by metal gloves. Looking up at the machine creature with it's golden eyes, the small creature let out a little roar, making Keith about fall over laughing.

"That's even more pathetic than you thinking you'll win!" he blurted out with laughter still spilling out.

Smirking once more, Illidan calmly showed a card to Keith, which immediately made him stop laughing. "My, my, you still haven't learned to not underestimate my monsters, have you Keith?" Illidan chided. "I play the spell Level Up, allowing me to sacrifice Armed Dragon LV3 to special summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"

Vanishing from the field, the small dragon was immediately replaced by a larger version of it's self, this one with sharp spikes covering it's dull grey armor, a spiked ball like mace on it's tail, short stubby wings, and clawed hands covered in metal gloves. The dragon let out a loud roar, making the machine monster tremble a bit in fear.

Keith only gaped at the new monster while Illidan slightly smirked at his reaction. "I activate Armed Dragon's special ability. By discarding my Exarion Universe, I can destroy a monster with 1800 or less attack points. Armed Dragon, blast his scrapheap back to the junkyard with Shrapnel Needle Blast!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dragon fired all of it's spikes out at once, sending them like small missiles. The spiked missiles soon struck their target, sending out a large explosion and making the machine creature loudly groan before vanishing completely.

"Damn!" Keith loudly cursed.

"If you thought that was bad, just wait till I direct attack! In fact, why wait! Go Armed Dragon, hit him with Infernal Roar!" Illidan called out.

Roaring loudly, the large orange dragon charged forward and slashed Keith with full force with both it's two clawed hands, making Keith stumble backwards and begin to lightly pant.

"I end my move." (Illidan 8000, Keith 5600)

Growling loudly, Keith yelled angrily "No one makes a fool out of Bandit Keith!"

"You're right, no one does. You seem to do that yourself." Illidan nonchalantly replied.

Grinding his teeth together, Keith grabbed a new card from his deck, but instantly smirked at it. "You're going to pay for that comment. I summon Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast (2800/2000)!"

Appearing instantly onto the field with a loud machine buzzing sound was a powerful orange-red machine dragon with tank tracks for legs and a long metallic tail on it's backside.

"Due that you summoned it using it's effect, it loses half it's attack and defense points (2800 / 2 1400/2000 / 2 1000)." Illidan informed calmly.

Turning red with anger, Keith snapped "I know my own card's effect! But you had better figure something out, that things aren't as they always seem! I play my face down trap, Skill Drain! Now I pay a grand in life points to activate it. Thanks to this trap, all monster effects are negated!"

Both monsters on the field instantly began glowing with a light red aura, making each roar out a bit. The large orange dragon with dull grey armor roared in pain while the machine dragon roared with a touch of happiness.

"Now my dragon gets all of it's points back (2800/2000)!" Keith bragged and smugly smirked. "Next, I activate the equip spell Megamorph, doubling my dragon's points (2800 2 5600/2000)!"

Immediately, the machine dragon let out a massive roar while it's body glowed with golden energy.

"I'm not done with you yet! I play one last spell, Limiter Removal! This doubles my dragon's attack points once more (5600 2 10200/2000)!"

Letting out a massive mechanical roar once more, the machine dragon's body glowed golden again, increasing it's power even more.

Illidan stared in shock at the creature and lightly gulped at the prospect of it attacking soon enough. "_This is going to hurt a lot..._"

"Fusilier Dragon, obliterate his dragon with Explosive Missiles!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon launched millions of small missiles into the air, each sending out a sonic screaming sound. Watching the oncoming missiles, Illidan took up a defensive stance and crossed his arms. The missiles easily tore through the large orange dragon quickly, blowing it apart. The remainder of the missiles then struck Illidan hard, knocking him off his feet and to the ground. The explosion rocked the dueling field, sending out a plume of smoke and hushing the crowd with shock.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing Illidan on the ground clutching his side and panting hard. Keith only loudly laughed arrogantly, and pointed at the downed figure of Illidan.

"You're dead you punk!" he obnoxiously declared.

Slow to stand, Illidan eventually stood and breathlessly muttered "We'll see…"

"I end, meaning my dragon goes away." Keith nonchalantly said. Upon finishing his sentence, his dragon began glowing brightly and suddenly exploded, leaving nothing on his field.

"Let's see if you have anything left to show for yourself, you punk." (Illidan 200, Keith 4600)

Lightly panting still, Illidan closed his eyes and calmed himself. Reigning in his emotions and body, he reopened his eyes and calmly drew his next card. Looking at it, he slightly smirked.

"I may have the least amount of life points right now, but that doesn't mean I'm finished. I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)!" Illidan confidently called out.

Rising up onto the field was a silver dragon that looked more like a large silver bird. It had large silver wings for arms that were tucked in and large talons on it's feet.

"Since you have no defenses, it makes this turn all that much easier! Direct attack his life points with Darkness Flames!"

Flapping it's wings, the silver dragon lifted off into the air and opened it's jaws. Black flames began to lick the tip of it's mouth, showing it had plenty of fire. In a simple motion, the dragon shot out a stream of black and red flames, striking Keith hard enough to push him backwards a bit.

"I end my turn by setting a face down card." (Illidan 200, Keith 2800)

Gnashing his teeth with fury, Keith drew his next card and glared at Illidan. Showing off his new card, he called out "I activate the spell Monster Reborn, bringing back my X-Head Cannon (1800/1600)!"

Reviving onto the field was the blue and gold colored humanoid looking robot with twin barrels sticking out of it's chest.

"Next, I summon Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field was a red machine dragon that let out a low mechanical roar. The machine dragon spread it's red wings, displaying an impressive wingspan.

"Since Y-Dragon Head is a Union Type monster, I can move it to my Spell/Trap Zone and equip it to my X-Head Cannon, raising X-Head Cannon's points by 400 (1800 + 400 2200/1600 + 400 2000)! Merge together now my machines and help me destroy Illidan's pathetic creature!"

Thrusters underneath of both creatures instantly fired as the two machine monster flew into the air. Flying above the red machine dragon, the humanoid robot's sphere that it sat on began spinning rapidly, prompting the red machine dragon to open up a port on it's back for the robot to dock. The two gently came together and fell back down to the field to display their teamwork.

"Blow away that dragon X-Head Cannon with Cannon Menace!" Keith yelled out.

Both barrels of the robot and the head of the red machine dragon instantly took aim on the silver dragon. Blue energy began to accumulate within the machine dragon's mouth while a golden glow formed within the twin barrels of the robot. With little warning, the two blasts were released straight for the silver dragon that only stood there with little movement.

Lightly chuckling at the oncoming blast, Illidan pointed at his face down card, which instantly rose up. "Sorry to disappoint Keith, but I play my trap, Draining Shield. Now your attack is negated and your monster's attack points are added to my life points."

A light blue round energy shield immediately formed in front of the silver dragon, taking the hit square on. The energy was immediately absorbed and shot directly to Illidan's Duel Disk, causing his life point counter to surge upwards.

Gnashing his teeth once more, Keith growled out "I end!" (Illidan 2400, Keith 2800)

Nodding curtly, Illidan drew and calmly said "I place a card face down and switch Horus to defense."

Immediately, underneath of the silver dragon a horizontal card image with the dragon's picture on it appeared. The dragon hunched down a bit, seemingly moving to a defensive position.

"Your move." (Illidan 2400, Keith 2800)

Picking up his card, Keith examined it and grinned. "I start by placing a card face down. Next, I play the spell Card of Sanctity! We each now can draw till we hold six cards in our hands."

Drawing six cards, Keith watched while Illidan only picked up three cards. Looking over his new hand, Keith evilly grinned and said "You're about to be obliterated Illidan."

"I doubt that for some reason." Illidan mumbled lowly.

"I first unequip Y-Dragon Head from X-Cannon Head, lowering X-Cannon Head's attack points (1800/1600)." Keith confidently declared.

The large machine creature instantly burst into the air with it's thrusters, and suddenly came apart and reformed the two machine monsters.

"I sacrifice both in order to summon Perfect Machine King (2700/1500)!"

Both smaller machine monsters instantly vanished from the field, giving way to a new machine creature that was a huge red and white robot with many missiles and other pieces of heavy artillery attached to it's body. It's eyes lit up as it stretched it's arms to show it's power.

Smirking at this, Illidan commented "As powerful as that monster is, it's kind of useless since it won't get any stronger with no other Machine Type monsters on the field."

"Keep thinking that Illidan, but you're about to be sadly mistaken!" Keith countered. "I activate the almighty spell Machine Swarm! This has me first pay half my life points. Next, I can special summon Machine Type monsters from my deck equal to half the stars of the strongest monster on the field. If the number happens to be odd, like Perfect Machine King's is, it is automatically rounded upwards. Since Perfect Machine King is a level seven, that means I get four new Machine Type monsters!"

Illidan could only gasp in shock while watching Keith sift through his deck. Finally, Keith slapped four monster cards to his Duel Disk and began manically laughing!

"Read it and weep punk, I special summon Machine King (2200/2000), V-Tiger Jet (1600/1800), W-Wing Catapult (1300/1500), and Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"

The first monster to flash onto the field was a huge blue and red machine monster with large looking arms. Next to it, a gold and green blue machine tiger appeared on the field with a small roar. Black stripes covered his head, but the rest of his body was nearly normal looking, except for the jet engines sticking off metal wings.

Beside of the two new machine creatures appeared a huge blue jet like creature with a huge arsenal of missiles and rockets on itself. The last monster finally materialized, revealing it to be a large yellow and blue tank like creature with large tank tracks.

Letting out a maniacal laugh, Keith yelled "With these four monsters out now, both Perfect Machine King and Machine King get a boost to their points. Perfect Machine King gets 500 attack points per a machine (2700 + 500 4 4700/1500) and Machine King gets a 100 attack points per a machine (2200 + 100 5 2700/2000)!"

Both the large red and white machine creature and the red and blue one began glowing with golden energy while their attack points increased. Each of their eyes began glowing bright red as well, showing their new found energies were flowing through their bodies.

"Next, I remove V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult from play to merge them and form the VW-Tiger Catapult (2000/2100)!"

Both the tiger creature and the blue platform like monster thrusters came to life, shooting both into the air. The tiger quickly moved to above the blue and yellow platform creature and docked with it before returning to the ground.

"Of course, that lowers Perfect Machine King and Machine King's bonuses, but they'll live without it (4200/1500) (2600/2000)."

Pausing for a moment, Keith let loose a truly evil grin and called out "I activate the spell Mechanical Fusion, allowing me to pay 1000 of my life points in order to merge Machine Type monsters into a Fusion Type monster. I use monsters from my hand, field, or Graveyard to use this card, so I choose Z-Metal Tank from my field, and X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head from my Graveyard! Merge together to form XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

Reappearing onto the field were both the blue and yellow humanoid robot and the red machine dragon. Along with the blue and yellow tank, the three's thrusters came to life and they flew into the air. Like before, the blue and yellow robot merged with the red dragon, but this time the dragon's wings came off. The two then linked up with the blue and yellow tank that moved in below the pair. Linking up, the three formed into one large robot and let out a small mechanical groan.

"If you thought that was impressive, just wait! I merge XYZ-Dragon Cannon with VW-Tiger Catapult to form the all mighty VWXYZ-Dragon Cannon Catapult (3000/2800)!"

Both the huge machine creatures fired their thrusters, each flying high into the air. Each broke apart and began forming a new creature. Slowly, the form of a large robot on two legs made from the blue and yellow tank appeared, followed by a midsection formed by the red dragon. Next, on the chest of the creature, the large blue platform had docked onto the blue and yellow robot's chest. The arms were the tracks of the blue and yellow tank creature, and on the large machine creature's back were the red wings of the red dragon. Finally, the head of the massive monster was created by the mechanical tiger. Landing on the ground, the machine monster let out a horrifying moan and aimed both cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest at Illidan.

"True, I did weaken my Perfect Machine King and Machine King, but it was worth it (3700/1500) (2500/2000). Now it's time to get rid of your defense, and to do that, I activate VWXYZ-Dragon Cannon Catapult's special ability. Now I can remove your monster from play, so say farewell to any chance of winning!" Keith manically screamed.

Aiming both barrels at the silver dragon, the large combination machine launched twin blasts from it's barrels, incinerating the silver dragon instantly and leaving nothing behind.

Illidan only lightly grimaced at the loss of his monster, which Keith enjoyed. "Let's end this! I activate Limiter Removal one more time, meaning my monsters' points double (3700 2 7400/1500) (2500 2 5000/2000) (3000 2 6000/2800)!" Keith declared with all sanity absent from his voice.

Watching his three monsters glow brightly with a light blue glow, Keith once more manically cackled and pointed an angry finger at Illidan. "You lose little man! Obliterate him now my monsters!"

"Mr. Keith, an attack from one will suffice! Do not use all three, for you could seriously injure Mr. Stormrage!" the judge declared from the side of the field.

Sneering at the man, Keith angrily yelled "SCREW YOU! I've waited twelve years for this, and I won't let you stop me now! Destroy him with Missile Decimation, Rocket Punch, and Lightning Cannon!"

Shocked and dismayed, the crowd watched while all three monsters took aim. The large red and white machine monster instantly released all of it's compliment of missiles, each sending out a screaming screech once airborne. Next to the red and white creature, the red and blue monster aimed it's fist at Illidan and shot half of it's arm, up to it's elbow joint, straight at him with a rocket speeding it up. Finally, the large combination machine creature lowered both barrels towards Illidan and let loose a huge golden blast from each barrel.

"WE NEED PARAMEDICS TO BE STANDING BY!" the judge screamed into his headset while the blast sailed straight across the field.

The crowd could only watch in complete shock as the blasts struck the area where Illidan was standing, sending out a huge mushroom cloud of smoke and an explosion that rocked the entire arena. The force of the blast threw the judge away from the ring and hard onto the ground, while the crowd all held their breath to see what had happened to Illidan.

--

Sitting in the stands cooing to Arya, Marie seemed to ignore the explosion. In shock, the man sitting beside of her in a panic asked "Mrs. Stormrage, how can you just sit there when your husband was possibly just seriously hurt!? Don't you know he could die from such an attack!?"

Shaking it off lightly, Marie looked up at the man and softly smiled. Kindly, she replied "You don't know Illidan like I do. He wouldn't lose a duel by a move like that. I'm more worried that all of those holographic explosions will be a bit too much for our daughter."

Shocked by her words, the man worriedly returned his gaze to the field while Marie continued to coo to the child in her arms.

--

Laughter was the only thing heard throughout the arena while the smoke still cleared. Keith only continued to laugh even more manically than before and arrogantly said "You thought you could mess with Bandit Keith and not pay for it! You were so wrong! Now you know the kind of duelist I really am!"

"Yes, I do." a calm voice called out from the smoke.

The smoke cleared more, revealing Illidan was still standing with his life points intact, leaving Keith with his mouth agape in complete shock.

From the stands, Marie called out "Show off!"

Illidan instantly smirked at his wife's comment and returned his full gaze to Keith, who stared at Illidan with veins popping out of his forehead. His face had turned beat red, and he was clenching his fists till his knuckles were white.

"YOU SHOULD HAVE LOST! YOU HAD ONLY A FIFTH OF THE LIFE POINTS NEEDED TO SURVIVE, SO YOU MUST HAVE CHEATED!" Keith angrily accused.

Wagging a finger at Keith, Illidan slyly remarked "You haven't changed much Keith. You still can't remember what's in play. Remember, I had a face down card left before you attacked. That card was a trap called Waboku. With it, I reduced all the Battle Damage to zero, meaning nothing got to my life points."

Anger fully covered every inch of Keith's body, and Illidan only smirked, saying "This duel is as good as over Keith. When you end your turn, all of your monsters are destroyed, leaving you helpless."

"We'll see about that!" Keith angrily yelled. Pulling a card from his hand, he jammed it roughly into his Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I play the spell Mystik Wok! Now I can sacrifice one of my monsters and pad my life points with it's attack points. I choose my Perfect Machine King, meaning I get a nice big juicy boost to my life points."

Appearing around the large white and red machine creature was a wok with a huge ladle on the side of it. Instantly, the machine creature vanished and turned into golden dust that funneled into Keith's Duel Disk, forcing his life point counter to increase greatly.

"I end, meaning my monsters vanish." he grumbled. One by one, the two remaining machine creatures shattered, leaving Keith alone on his field once more. (Illidan 2400, Keith 6500)

Calmly drawing his next card, Illidan examined it and softly smiled. "I guess I should end this duel with a trick a friend of mine taught me back at Duel Academy. I activate the spell Future Fusion, forcing me to send from my deck monsters that can create a Fusion Type monster. I send all three of my Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) to the Graveyard in order to form the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)."

Pulling his deck out, Illidan sifted through it and finally grabbed all three cards. Placing them calmly into his Graveyard Slot, he watched patiently as all three were sucked in. Shuffling his deck, he calmly replaced it in it's slot and softly smiled.

"In two of my Standby Phases, my dragon shall make it's grand appearance, but why wait?" Illidan slyly asked, earning a questionable look from Keith.

Growling, Keith countered with "Whatever you summon, I'll smash it!"

"Think so?" Illidan questioned with a smirk. "Then let's find out this turn! I play the spell Power Bond, allowing me to fuse monsters together to form a Machine Type Fusion monster. The monsters I'll fuse are none other than the three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) I just discarded."

"But they're in your Graveyard!" Keith protested.

Nodding, Illidan calmly remarked "True, but I have a way around that. I activate the quick play spell Cybernetic Fusion Support, which has me half my life points in order to remove Fusion Material monsters from my Graveyard for a fusion summoning."

Keith could only worriedly watch while Illidan held his hand out to his Graveyard Slot. One by one, the three cards slid out, and he collected the three and placed them into a different slot. "Now then, meet the monster that will end this game, my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Appearing onto the field was a large three headed snake like machine dragon with massive wings on it's back. The three heads connected to a central point where from on back there was one tail. Each head had a bit of a different look, with each having gold mechanical eyes. The three heads immediately let out a loud roar, shaking the entire arena.

"Using Power Bond to summon my monster grants me another unique ability. It doubles my monster's attack points (4000 2 8000/2800)."

Glowing with a white energy, the machine dragon's heads let out another mighty roar, this one even fiercer than the last.

Keith instantly fell to his knees in despair at the sight of the monster. Sweat was pouring down his face while he clenched his teeth tightly. "_Not again, not to this punk!_" he screamed in his mind.

"Keith, you can't win. I don't want to see you get hurt by Cyber End Dragon's attack. Even though you tried to hurt me, I'm not so cruel, so I give you this one opportunity. Surrender the duel and walk away while you can." Illidan calmly stated.

The entire crowd all hushed in awe and watched what Keith would do. After a few minutes of contemplating it, Keith finally moved his right hand to cover his deck. With the universal sign of surrender given, the crowd burst into a frenzy over the results of the duel.

Clearing his throat, the announcer turned on the microphone and declared "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Japanese National Champion, Illidan Stormrage!"

--

Leaning back in his chair, Illidan let out a small sigh. After the duel had ended and he managed to get away from the press and his fans, and managed to find Marie and Arya. When she suggested going back to the hotel, Illidan had totally agreed.

Relaxing leisurely, Illidan glanced around the suite that they were staying in. Everything was rather luxurious, but it didn't matter too much to him. He had seen far worse, and some better.

Hearing Marie approaching him, he sat still and felt her wrap her arms around his neck softly and kiss his cheek. "Arya went to sleep rather easily tonight." she remarked.

"That's good. She'll be up soon enough though." Illidan grumbled jokingly.

Smirking at his comment, Marie pulled back a bit and gently rubbed his shoulders. "You did well in the duel tonight. I'm surprised though you gave that jerk a chance to surrender."

"Feh, I didn't want him to get hurt. If not for the fact Cyber End Dragon was twice as strong, I probably wouldn't have let him have a chance." Illidan remarked.

Stopping her movements, Marie leaned down to his ear and seductively purr "With Arya in bed, we have some alone time."

Knowing where things were headed, Illidan slightly smirked and leaned back into the chair even more. Releasing her hold on him, Marie moved around the chair and gently sat down onto his lap while facing him. Gently, the two kissed, but soon enough, the kiss deepened into one that showed the hunger each had for one another. Since Arya had been born, they hadn't shared a night alone in some time.

Illidan's hands were just underneath the fabric of her blouse when a knock on the door interrupted him. Cursing softly, he watched with sadness as Marie stood up and moved to a different seat.

Heavily sighing, he stood up and went to the door. "_Should I kill the person who dared to interrupt me? Hmm, I'll have to think about it._" he lightly mused.

Opening the door, Illidan was shocked to find a young man with tri-colored spiky hair. He had blonde bangs and a pink stripe that went around the outer part of his spikes, with black filling in the rest. His eyes were violet and depicted much innocence. He wore black leather pants, a belt that hung off to the side, a black muscle shirt, and a white long sleeved shirt over top of it.

Grinning at Illidan, the young man waved and asked "What's up old buddy?"

"Yugi, this is a surprise. I didn't know you were in town." Illidan remarked back and shook his friend's hand and then hugged him.

Motioning for him to come in, Illidan led him to the seats near where Marie sat. She instantly flashed a smile to Yugi and hugged the young man herself before taking a seat beside of Illidan on the couch while Yugi sat down on the nearby loveseat.

"Where is Arya?" Yugi inquisitively asked while looking around the suite.

Smiling kindly, Marie replied "I just put her down for a nap. She'll be up soon enough, you know that. She has to see her godfather, no matter what."

Chuckling at that, Yugi nodded. Curious to Yugi's visit, Illidan asked "So, why are you here in Tokyo?"

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Yugi replied "Well, it was Kaiba's idea. He wanted to meet with the three of us over something. What, I'm not sure yet."

Without warning, there was another knock at the door. Getting up, Illidan answered it to find the man of their discussions standing there. He had brown hair brown hair that went down to his neck, but was trimmed up, and piercing dark blue eyes. He wore a white trench coat with a black undershirt and black leather pants.

"Seto." Illidan curtly said.

"Illidan." Seto remarked.

Moving out of the way, he allowed Seto in and closed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2: Revelations and Challenges

Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the lateness of the post, but I've had a busy morning and afternoon today. I had a meeting at noon that lasted longer than expected, plus I've had some other stuff to do, plus I had to do the reviews for **_**Another**_** in order to post a chapter for it. Needless to say, it's been busy, and I plan on doing chapter posts for the two stories on different days, lol. Anyways, life is normal here, other than all the rain we've gotten the last few days or so. Eh, oh well, don't bother me none. I like the rain myself, especially listening to it. Oh well, I'll get to do that eventually.**

**Last time, the story began with Illidan dueling Keith and winning the Japanese National Championship. At the end, Yugi, along with Seto, have come to pay a visit to our love birds and their new daughter Arya. What could Seto have to say, and how will it impact their lives?**

**Thank you to all that have sent in reviews and added me to their favs and alerts. It means a lot to me to see this story starting out so well. Thank you all again. And now, it's time to answer them all! Review Time!**

**DuelistBlake1852: Glad you're happy to see MtM up. It's finally here and starting off. It's cool about not reviewing the final chapters of **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**. It happens when real life takes over. I really don't mind it. Heh, like I tell everyone, real life comes first, then fun time on here. LOL! Yes, reality sometimes just sucks, but we have to live with it, for better or worse… I think I heard that one before come to think of it. Oh yeah, when I got married… But anyways, yes, Illidan's deck has once more changed, but don't get too comfortable with it. This is a familiar deck, in a way, if you think about it. Other than the Cyber Dragon enhancements, like Power Bond and Cybernetic Fusion Support, it's the same basic deck he had in TWS. Shocking, right? Eh, I like beatdown decks myself, which is what I grew up on. I came in when the game only had two real strategies, which was beatdown and Exodia. I prefer beatdown due that you know you fought hard and can be judged on the strength of your deck, not sneaky maneuvers. Glad you liked the duel with Bandit Keith. He never seems to learn, lol. Yeah, his final attack could have killed Illidan, but Illidan was more than clever enough to think a step ahead. Hmm, Yugi and Kaiba paying a visit is mysterious. One has to wonder what they're there for… No, no one can get a break in this story, lol. Thanks for the adds to your lists, and for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, I wanted to introduce Arya to everyone, so now everyone knows about their daughter, hehe. We'll find out more on her later, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Good question on Yugi and Kaiba. Maybe a new adventure, or maybe about a sale on diapers! True, it would make a little more sense to do Tuesday and Friday, but after today, finding out that it's hard to do two sets of reviews, no thanks. Too much work, lol. I'll do it on Tuesday and Thursday still. Thanks for the suggestion though, and for the review!**

**sirbj: Congrats on being the first review! Yep, the opening duel was decent. Heh, Keith lived a while at least, hehe. Nope, he can't learn to play well with others, that one is for sure. True, I ponder what Kaiba wants with Yugi, Illidan, and Marie. Glad you liked the first chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you all for your support on the first chapter. I'm glad everyone liked it well enough. I hope you all have a good weekend, and enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 2**

Seeing the tension between the three males, with Illidan and Yugi starting down Seto, Marie giggled and said "You know, it's not like you guys are enemies or anything. Just relax!"

Noting none of the three heard her, or just ignored her, she let out a loud huff and grumbled "Men…"

Shaking his head, instantly breaking the staring match, Illidan mumbled "Sorry about that. It's a male thing."

Yugi instantly burst into fits of laughter, while Seto cracked a rare smile himself. The mood instantly lightened, with the group of four taking seats. Reaching over to the coffee table, Seto picked up the clear pitcher of water and poured himself a drink of in a nearby cup. Taking a long drink, Seto set the cup down and let out a tired sigh, revealing dark circles underneath of his eyes.

Noting Kaiba was extremely tired, even more so than usual, Illidan pondered on it. "_I know he loves to work, but still, even for him, he seems more tired than usual._"

Knowing Seto wouldn't say a word, Illidan finally asked "What's wrong?"

Leaning back into the chair he sat in, Kaiba closed his eyes and calmly said "You have no idea how bad this week has been. It's been rather crazy. There are chaotic problems at Duel Academy."

Grasping Marie's hand, Illidan leaned forward and asked "What's going on?"

Sitting back up, Kaiba revealed his dark blue eyes and said "It started out at the beginning of this past school year. There have been a few mysterious attacks on students."

Flinching instantly, Marie timidly asked "Physical ones?"

"I wish." Seto grumbled. "We'd have a better chance at finding whoever done this to them then. The students just mysteriously disappear, then eventually turn up at their dorms with no knowledge of what happened. Then there is the kicker to this problem, which is their bodies seemed drained of their energy to the point they're just left with enough to keep their vitals at normal."

Anger instantly spread throughout Illidan's mind at hearing this. Calming himself, he asked "What kind of sicko would do that to those young kids?"

"That's what we've been trying to find out." Kaiba replied with a sigh. "After the first week of this problem, Chancellor Sheppard took notice and realized that at the rate things were going, Duel Academy would be shut down by those idiot Princeton brothers if the culprit isn't caught."

Frowning, Illidan asked "You mean Chazz's brothers, right?"

"Yes." Kaiba grumbled lowly.

Marie looked lightly confused, so Illidan said "The brothers, Jag and Slader, are Chazz's older brothers. One is a politician and the other a businessman. Both have a lot of power behind them. They've been trying to take control of Duel Academy for a while through several schemes. From what I read in a report while at the school, they tried to do it through a duel against Chazz, which failed."

"They've tried hostile takeovers as well, but I blocked them rather easily from that option." Seto smugly added.

"So, needless to say, they've been rather unsuccessful?" Marie asked curiously.

Getting a nod from Kaiba, he added "Strangely enough, the attacker has only been targeting mainly Obelisk Blues, but whoever it is moved onto some of the better Ra Yellows. When they're found, their condition resembles that of that loser Wheeler when he lost his duel against Marik at Battle City."

Earning a glare from Yugi, Kaiba only smirked. Yugi only looked downwards, anger seemingly swirling within his violet eyes.

"For twelve years… all the sacrifices I made in my efforts to eradicate Shadow Magic, and still this kind of evil exists! I want my child and all of the others in the world to live free of this scourge! And still, this person somehow has gone about ruining their future!" Yugi angrily growled out.

Sighing, Seto replied "You know we all feel this way. Remember what Mokuba said a few months ago at his wedding to Rebecca? Shadow Magic shouldn't have existed in the first place."

Illidan lightly nodded, but couldn't help but smile in his mind at the thought of Seto's little brother. Mokuba and Rebecca had just started dating right before they left Duel Academy, and not long after his twenty-second birthday passed by, he proposed to Rebecca, shocking the entire group. When the couple had married, Illidan, along with Yugi, Marie, and Seto, mostly thought that life had perhaps returned to normal and that the children of the future would be free of the legendary Shadow Games.

"I wanted to mention that Syrus Truesdale, in particular, was one of the first to be attacked." Seto said, instantly breaking Illidan out of his thoughts. "Illidan, both you and Marie were close to his brother Zane, if I'm not mistaken, correct?"

"Yes, we were." Illidan mumbled lightly.

Getting his answer, Seto continued on and said "He was on his way to class one day, and took a detour to go to the bathroom. He never came back, and never showed up for class after that. Jaden Yuki alerted Professor Crowler, and that's when the true nightmare began."

Slightly worried about their former student, Marie asked "What do you mean?"

"Crowler looked into the matter. He talked with all of Truesdale's friends, with Zane himself, and anyone who had seen him that day. No one knew anything about him, and no one could find him. Crowler himself then began a search for the boy, but mysteriously vanished the very next day. He just completely vanished, without a trace. Like Syrus, we've yet to find him." Seto explained.

Quietly, Yugi asked "When was this?"

"Six months ago." Seto flatly stated.

The three instantly gasped at this answer, with Illidan exclaiming "You're joking!"

"I never joke, as you've most certainly learned after all of these years." Seto remarked. "We've yet to find Crowler, and the same goes for Syrus. It's really quite disconcerting. Not long after Crowler's disappearance, students began to disappear. All of them though were found a few days later, but like I said before, were completely drained. Chancellor Sheppard has been looking into it. Luckily I suppose, there has been no attack on himself yet."

Pausing for a moment, Seto finally said "He eventually called me. Things were getting rather bad, with about twenty Obelisk Blues and Ra Yellows already being attacked. When I arrived, I suspended classes. Along with a Kaiba Corp. team of professional duelists and guards, we combed the island. Nothing turned up at all, which infuriated me further. Finally, I was ready to leave, but before I did, I felt something."

Interested, Illidan leaned forward to look his long time rival and friend in the eye, asking "What?"

"As I'm sure you remember, five millennia ago, I had the ability to sense traces of Shadow Magic even after it had been used." Kaiba explained.

Getting a nod from Illidan, he continued on, saying "I began feeling something, so I followed the trail. I finally found some residual traces of Shadow Magic in a small area near the volcano. The Shadow Magic had screwed up the entire area. All of the vegetation within five feet of the spot was rotten. But this gave me a clue at the least. I immediately began to think of who on Earth still uses Shadow Magic."

"As of now, that I know of, only the former members of the Shadow Court can use Shadow Magic." Yugi interjected.

Nodding, Seto remarked "That's true, but don't forget that Zell and Legato were defeated just last year, meaning someone with Shadow Powers could be lurking about. If someone with them wanted to, they could sneak onto Duel Academy and prey upon the students. They could be a student even, or a teacher, or just a stranger."

"That could include anyone on the island!" Marie uttered in a bit of shock.

"Unfortunately, that is true. There are about three hundred students and eighteen teachers there now. I made sweeps of all the students and teachers while there with my Shadow Powers, but came up empty, other than with three students, but you and I both know why they have Shadow Powers, right Illidan?"

"Yeah, because they have Shadow Charms." Illidan replied calmly.

Nodding in reply, Seto added "Yes, that's correct. Anyways, my point is, anyone can hide their powers and disguise themselves as a student or teacher."

Silence blanketed the room for a moment before finally Illidan asked "What do you want us to do?"

"Well, I'd like you and Marie to return to your posts at the school as Headmasters of the Slifer Dorm." Seto calmly said. Turning to Yugi, he added "Yugi, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

Smirking, Yugi remarked "It must kill you to have to do that."

Grunting in irritation, Seto said "I'd greatly appreciate it if you would be so kind as to become the temporary headmaster for the Obelisk Dorm."

Thinking on it for a moment, Yugi finally replied "I'll think about it."

Shrugging, Kaiba grumbled "Whatever."

"What makes you think we'll have any better luck at tracking this mystery person than you did?" Marie quietly asked.

Sighing lightly, Seto replied "I don't think that you'll have much more luck, but at least you'll be there if someone is attacked. I can't permanently stay there, so I need someone there just in case. You see, the things are about to get a bit worse."

Taking a deep breath, he added "Since the summer of last year, I began planning on hosting my Genex Tournament at the school for the beginning of this year. I have postponed it for this long due that the school was having it's difficulties. The champions of the sister schools to Duel Academy are getting antsy, so I need to have the tournament. It will begin in a few weeks. The champions, Adrian Gecko, Jesse Anderson, Axel Brodie, and Jim Crocodile Cook, respectfully champions of the east, north, west, and south branches, will be arriving soon, like the next week or so."

"The other parties in the Genex Tournament, who are unaware of the situation, thought it would be fun to make it more exciting and decided to invite some of the strongest duelists in the world to the tournament. You three were all included and should be getting invitations soon, although it doesn't matter. I'm expected to participate also. If any of the guests or champions are attacked, Duel Academy could be shut down for sure."

Frowning, Illidan asked "Can't you just cancel the tournament? I mean, things are kind of in a bind as is."

Snorting, Kaiba replied "Are you kidding me!? This tournament will be the biggest thing to happen in Duel Monsters since the Battle City Tournament! Cancelling is not an option due that it would be classified as a scandal, thus ruining my reputation along with the school's! The media would dog my every step, and my partners and shareholders would want to know why. If it came out about the attacks, then Duel Academy would be taking a long dirt nap."

Heavily sighing, he calmed a bit and said "That's why I want you three there. It would make me feel a bit safer knowing that there are three competent duelists on the island that can take care of things. The four of us are the strongest people alive with Shadow Powers…"

"You're forgetting some of us…" Marie mumbled lowly, hinting at their other friends.

Grumbling lightly, Seto continued on. "We are some of the strongest people with Shadow Powers, thus I am confident that the three of you can subdue any such threat immediately."

Turning to Yugi, Seto sighed and said "You'll have a house to yourself, like Illidan and Marie. You and your family should have more than enough room in it. Think about it, eleven long years of dealing with this crap and finally you can settle down with your family. Spend some time with Tea and Yoshi, enjoy yourself. God knows they deserve it, along with you. And just so you know, I will pay for this whole thing, including moving you and your family there. And since we all three know one another rather well, I'll hike up your salaries to a one hundred thousand dollars a year, a piece. Anything else you need for your home will be provided complimentary."

Silence enveloped the room instantly. After what seemed like forever, Illidan said "I'll do it. I grew fond of the students last year, so it'd be nice to see them again."

"With Syrus taken, I'm definitely coming." Marie added and squeezed Illidan's hand.

All eyes immediately moved to Yugi, who sat with his arms crossed. After a long few moments, he said "I'm sure that if we find the perpetrator, we might actually wipe out the Shadow Magic finally, I can only hope. The idea of finally getting to stay constantly with Tea and Yoshi again is so very nice also. And having Illidan and Marie around would be very comforting. I'll do it on one condition."

Irritably, Seto snarled "What, you want another hundred grand!?"

Chuckling, Yugi shook his head, saying "That would be nice, but no. It's not about the money for me. It's been a while since I've had a good duel, so I want to duel the three of you!"

"Are you kidding? I'm all for that motion!" Illidan exclaimed with a grin.

Smirking, Seto folded his arms and closed his eyes and said "Another chance to prove my superior dueling skills seems like such a small price to pay to get the three of you to work for me."

Turning to Marie, he opened his eyes and asked "What about you, Marie? A four way duel would be even more interesting."

Sighing, Marie shook her head and replied "I would love to, but I better not. Arya has been rather cranky as of late during duels. I'll stay with her."

Shrugging, Seto remarked "Alright. You two, get your Duel Disks then."

"Mine is in my car downstairs." Yugi commented.

"Fine then, Kaiba Corp. has an office here in Tokyo with a private dueling ring. I use it when I'm bored and want to show off my incredible dueling skills." Kaiba arrogantly said.

Illidan, Marie, and Yugi all three burst out loud laughing at Kaiba's arrogant comment, which only made Kaiba grunt. Chuckling still, Illidan walked towards his and Marie's bedroom to retrieve his Duel Disk.

Entering it, he began rummaging around for it. "I just put it in here, come on, I couldn't have lost it already…" he grumbled.

Finally finding it under a nearby shirt, Illidan smiled and strapped it on. Pulling his deck out from his deck holder, he examined it quickly and nodded lightly.

Marie meanwhile walked into the room and pulled out Arya's stroller. Gently, she took the sleeping baby into her arms and tried to put her into her stroller, only to fail at keeping the child asleep. Arya woke up and began letting out a howling cry.

Groaning inwardly, Illidan walked over to his cranky daughter and moved down to a kneeling stance. Gently, he tried to soothe the child, but she would have none of it. She only screamed just as loud and began waving her fists lightly.

Reaching out to touch Arya's face, Illidan softly cooed "There, there Arya, calm down."

Instead of Arya calming down, a small wave of Shadow Magic went racing into Illidan's chest, shoving him roughly across the room and into the wall.

Feeling the breath knocked out of him, Illidan sank to the floor for a moment. Getting it back, he looked up at his daughter. "_Damn, her Shadow Powers are slowly developing0020into a major problem._" he grumbled within his mind.

Seeing her father laying on the floor across the room, Arya finally quieted and then began to lightly giggle. Glaring at their child, Marie harshly scolded Arya with "No! No! Bad girl! You don't throw Daddy across the room!"

Arya only giggled again and Marie heavily sighed. Groaning, Illidan slowly began to rise up and received a friendly hand from Marie. Taking it, he grumbled "Good thing Seto wasn't in here to see that. He'd never let me hear the end of it."

--

The four friends and Arya finally made it across town to the large, private dueling ring at Kaiba Corp. Leaving Marie and Arya in a few seats that were near the dueling platform, Illidan formed a triangle with both Yugi and Seto.

In a trash talking mood, Kaiba mockingly asked "Tell me Yugi, do you like dragons?"

"Never have really." Yugi commented back, knowing where the whole conversation was going.

"A pity you don't. Perhaps you'll learn to like them when they crush you." Seto teased.

Shrugging, Yugi remarked "Oh, they can try and make me like them, but me and my magicians will just blast them."

Illidan only remained quiet while Marie grumbled in her mind "_What is it with men and their urge to trade trash talk?_"

All three were finally in position and had their decks in their Duel Disks. Activating each, the three drew five cards and called out "LET'S DUEL!"

"I'll begin, with Yugi following me, and Illidan being last." Kaiba calmly stated while picking up his sixth card. Examining it, he finally placed it onto his monster card zone and said "I start things off by playing Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000)."

A slimy silver looking creature with thousands and thousands of hands sprouted out everywhere throughout it's body appeared onto the field with a small grunt.

"Disgusting." Illidan muttered.

Ignoring Illidan, Kaiba said "I activate Manju's effect, allowing me to transfer White Dragon Ritual from my deck to my hand."

Pulling his deck out quickly, he sifted through it till finally he found the card he wanted. Shuffling his deck back, Seto replaced his deck into it's slot and smirked. "I activate the spell White Dragon Ritual, in which I sacrifice Manju for. Now I can special summon my Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!"

A white dragon with large golden eyes and large warrior on it's back with white armor, cape, and a powerful sword and shield then appeared on the field. The warrior had greenish skin, but his face was hidden by a helmet that covered all but his chin and mouth.

"Next, I activate my dragon's effect and sacrifice him! With that, I can special summon the mighty and unbeatable Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!" Kaiba declared with maniacal laughter.

The warrior on the dragon's back instantly shattered, leaving the dragon alone. The dragon's eyes flashed blue and the smaller dragon instantly began to grow in age till it was much larger. It's wings spread wide, arm's increasing in size, along with it's feet. The dragon had metallic scales now covering it's body, and a set of dangerous teeth were flashed when it opened it's mouth. Letting out a mighty roar, the dragon took position over it's master, seemingly protecting him.

Sighing, Yugi asked in a low mutter "Why must you always laugh like you're insane when you summon that dragon?"

Ignoring Yugi, Seto placed a card within his Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I end by playing a face down card." (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Drawing his card, Yugi looked at Seto's field and then back at his hand. After a moment, he pulled a card from his hand and said "I activate the spell called Spell Economics. With this, I no longer have to pay life points for spell cards I activate. Now that it is in play, I activate the spell Dark Magic Curtain, allowing me to special summon from my deck my Dark Magician (2500/2100), so long as I give up half my life points, but that's not a problem thanks to Spell Economics. Rise up my old friend!"

Materializing onto the field was a platform with a large red curtain, the top half of a skeleton with a red collar, and a pentagram design etched circle. The curtain creature glowed with a dark black aura and suddenly the skeleton pulled open the curtain, allowing a figure to escape from it.

The figure soon became visible, revealing a mage wearing dark purple robes with some battle armor. In his right hand was a long green staff. His hair was purple, and his eyes the color of lilac. He had pale skin and wore a strange mage's hat. The mage simply crossed his arms and took up a position before Yugi.

Scoffing at the mage, Seto asked "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"Maybe." Yugi slyly remarked. "I activate the equip spell Magic Formula, adding 700 attack points to my Dark Magician (2500 + 700 3200/2500)."

Instantly, the mage glowed with a light purple aura and let out a soft growl while his power increased.

"I'll end with two face down cards." (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Glancing at both Seto and Yugi's fields, Illidan lightly chuckled to himself. "Nothing like reminiscing over old times, eh guys?"

Both Seto and Yugi smirked at this. Seeing that, Illidan drew his card and said "Why don't I make this duo a true trio! I play the spell Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards, but discard two when I'm done."

Picking up three cards, Illidan examined them before placing two into his Graveyard Slot, which sucked the two down instantly. "Next up, I activate the spell Monster Reborn, bringing back my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

A flaming pentagram instantly formed onto the field with smoke coming out of the middle of it. Rising slowly in the middle of the pentagram was a mage with black tight fitting armor, wearing a strange mage's hat, and held a long black staff in his right hand. His skin color was blue, and he had some black markings. While rising up, his eyes remained closed. Finally fully on the field, the mage opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises. Upon opening his eyes, the flames extinguished, seemingly showing his abilities with magic.

"With me special summoning my Dark Magician of Chaos, I can activate his special ability, allowing me to return a spell from my Graveyard. I think Monster Reborn should do nicely."

Receiving his card from his Graveyard Slot, Illidan calmly said "To end, I place two face down cards myself. Your go Seto." (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Looking at the dueling field, Marie lightly smirked while gently rocking Arya to sleep. "_The stage is set now._" she murmured in her mind.

Looking at both Illidan and Yugi's fields while drawing a card, Kaiba tried to analyze both for a weakness of some kind. Determining Illidan's might be the weakest, Kaiba called out "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy Illidan's Dark Magician of Chaos with White Lightning!"

Roaring loudly, the white dragon opened it's jaws and took aim at the black armored mage. White energy began building within the dragon's jaws till finally it shot a beam of white energy straight at the mage, who only stood confidently looking at the blast.

Smirking at the blast, Illidan pointed at one of his face down cards and said "Nice try Kaiba, but you'll have to do better than that. I play my trap, Waboku. All Battle Damage is reduced to zero, meaning my mage isn't going anywhere."

Materializing onto the field in front of the black armored mage were three female mages wearing blue robes. Each began chanting a spell, which formed a blue barrier. The white energy stream struck the barrier and grinded against it for a few minutes before finally fizzling out.

Grunting in irritation, Kaiba slapped a monster card horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) in defense mode."

A clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig materialized onto the field in a sitting position. He sat on top of a horizontal card image that had his image, making the clown smile a bit more.

"I end my move." (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Drawing, Yugi examined his card momentarily before sticking into his spell/trap slot, saying "I play the equip spell Dark Spear onto my Dark Magician."

Swinging his staff downwards to the right of his body, the mage's staff instantly transformed into a long and sharp green spear.

"With his Dark Spear equipped, when my Dark Magician strikes a defensive monster, the difference in his attack points and your monster's defense points are dealt directly to your life points, or better known as Trample Damage."

Pointing towards the clown sitting on Seto's field, Yugi called out "Dark Magician, take down that clown with Dark Spear Strike!"

Leaping into the air, the purple mage let out a small cry and began his rapid descent. Pushing his spear forward, he prepared to strike the clown.

"I don't think so Yugi." Seto grumpily said. "Go Negate Attack!"

Instantly, a blue and purple hole appeared before the clown, taking the hit from the spear that the purple mage wielded. Falling back, the mage landed onto Yugi's field and folded his arms.

"My trap not only negates your attack, it ends your Battle Phase." Seto smugly said.

Lightly sighing, Yugi calmly remarked "I end my turn." (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Picking up his next card, Illidan smirked lightly and slapped the card to his Duel Disk. "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)!"

Emerging onto the field was a silver dragon that looked more like a large silver bird. It had large silver wings for arms that were tucked in and large talons on it's feet.

"Horus, attack Seto's Peten the Dark Clown with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a small screech, the silver dragon flapped it's wings roughly till it lifted up into the air. Finally airborne, the dragon took aim and released a stream of black flames at the weaker clown. The clown was engulfed by the flames and let out a cry of pain before shattering.

Growling lightly, Seto barked out "Peten may have been destroyed, but he has a very special ability! By removing him from play from my Graveyard, I can now special summon a new Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) to my field in defense."

Taking the monster card out of his Graveyard Slot, Seto placed it within the removed from play slot and then grabbed his deck. Thumbing through it, he found the new monster card and slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, causing a duplicate of the clown that was just destroyed to appear.

"Not bad Seto, but you forget, I still have another monster. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack that clown with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Twirling his staff a bit, the blue skinned mage took aim at the clown creature and fired a blast of black magical energy. The blast tore through the clown easily, shattering him on contact.

"Unfortunately for you Seto, when my mage attacks and destroys a monster, the monster is removed from play instead of being sent to the Graveyard. That means you can't bring out another clown." Illidan chided, earning a growl from Seto.

Taking another card from his hand, Illidan placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I place this face down and move to my End Phase. Now I can activate Horus's special ability. Whenever he destroys a monster in battle, I can sacrifice him to special summon his next form, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Aiming it's head at the ground, the silver dragon released a stream of black flames at the ground, which instantly engulfed the small dragon completely. After a moment, silver metal wings poked out of the flames, along with an eagle like head. With strong wing beats, the new creature pulled itself out of the flames, revealing that the silver dragon had metamorphosed from a smaller dragon into a dragon that looked very much like a predatory bird with a long silver tail. Landing onto the field, the dragon let out a screech.

"Your move Seto." Illidan calmly said. (Seto 8000, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)

Glancing at Illidan's new monster and then at Yugi's mage, Seto drew his next card and smirked a bit. "Yugi, that Dark Magician of yours has been around for far too long! Time to cut him down to size! I activate the spell Shrink, cutting your Dark Magician's strength in half!"

A hologram image of the spell card instantly formed onto the field and shot out a white beam of energy at the purple robed mage, who stood perfectly still and waited.

"Sorry Kaiba, but my mage isn't going anywhere! I play my Bounce spell, which transfers the effect of your card to a different monster!" Yugi declared.

Eyeing the field, he smirked and said "And I choose to redirect your spell's effect at Illidan's Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The spell card image on Yugi's field instantly intercepted the white beam of energy and redirected it to the blue skinned mage, who doubled over in pain from the shot (2800 / 2 1400/2600).

Growling with irritation, Illidan shot a glare at Yugi, who only smirked. Seto grumbled lightly, but smirked too and said "Blue-Eyes, send that weakened mage on a one-way trip to the Graveyard with White Lightning!"

Roaring loudly, the white metallic dragon opened it's jaws and began gathering energy quickly within it's mouth. In mere moments, the dragon had enough energy gathered and fired a stream of the energy at the weakened mage.

Watching it approach, Illidan pointed at a face down card and called out "I'm not losing my mage that easily! Go trap card, Covering Fire!"

Rising up, the trap glowed instantly with a red glow. The black armored mage first began to glow with the same red aura, then the silver dragon reciprocated the act.

"When I play my Covering Fire, I'm allowed to raise the attack points of the monster being attacked by another of my monster's attack points. Since I only have Horus, that means he sends Dark Magician of Chaos all his strength (1400 + 2300 3700/2600)!"

Instantly, the mage recovered from his doubled over state and stood tall once more, making Seto break out in a sweat.

"Counter with Chaos Scepter Blast!" Illidan declared confidently.

Aiming his staff at the oncoming white energy stream, the black armored mage released a powerful blast of black magical energy. The blast went straight through the white beam, sending a shower of energy everywhere. After a moment of flying backwards, the blast slammed into the white dragon, making it howl in pain before exploding, sending smoke billowing over the field.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, leaving a growling Seto in it's wake. Glancing at his hand, he slapped a card to his Duel Disk horizontally and gruffly said "I summon Pitch-Dark Dragon (900/600) in defense."

A black dragon with many spikes covering it's body and black wings furled up appeared in a sitting stance before Seto.

"I place a card face down and end my turn." (Seto 7300, Yugi 8000, Illidan 8000)


	3. Chapter 3: Challenges Continued

Chapter 3

**Hey there everyone! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. I spent Saturday helping my dad out at his place, and then spent Sunday with my wife's family. Over all, kind of a boring weekend I suppose. Yesterday, I visited my grandfather, who is doing alright, but not great. I can't help but think back to how he used to be all the time, before his stroke. It kind of hurts in a way I suppose to see him as he is, but at least he's still with us with a mostly sound mind, so that's better than nothing.**

**So, writing wise, I'm making some strides on **_**Another**_**, although by working on it, I put off working on MtM, lol. I will however be working on MtM in the near future, so no probs there.**

**Last time, Seto explained the situation to Yugi, Illidan, and Marie about Duel Academy students being attacked. Who the perpetrator is, no one knows, but he has asked the three to investigate while taking over the roles of headmasters. Once that was done, a three way duel formed, with no side really gaining a clear cut advantage yet. Who will win, it is anyone's guess.**

**Now then, on to the reviews!**

**DuelistBlake1852: Yep, it's the trio once more fighting it out, hehe. Indeed, it should be a good duel, especially with each summoning their favorite monsters on their first turn. Heh, yes Yami, I'm sure we'll see how much each has improved since the last time they have dueled one another. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Hey, it's good to see you reviewing! Yep, I made a new fan fic, which is obviously the final sequel to my Illidan and Marie series. Glad you liked the duel between Illidan and Keith. Yeah, I figured Illidan would allow Keith to surrender, thus showing he wasn't a bad guy still. Glad you're enjoying this duel thus far. I hope you like the end of it. Thanks for your review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: LOL! Yeah, true, it was a cute moment. Poor Illidan, his daughter is already a handful and she can't even form words in her mouth yet. That sounds familiar… But yes, I suppose Arya seems to be the equivalent of Gohan, but not really I suppose. A certain other character is more like him than Arya. LOL! That would be hilarious if Marie walked in on Arya having a tea party with Dark Necrofear, or maybe something like Ultimate Obedient Fiend, hehe. Yep, the group has their work cut out for them. Glad you're happy to see Jesse in this story, along with others. Things will be interesting for Illidan and crew, that's for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**sirbj: Yep, more Shadow Realm magic, lol. True, who is releasing the power this time is a good question. One does have to wonder what happened to Syrus and Crowler… Thanks about the duel and for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yep, but the diaper sale would have been nice, lol. You never know, Kaiba could have come that far to mention the sale… I'm sure he didn't get ultra rich by not passing up on a bargain, hehe. Nah, I did nothing for April Fools day. I thought about it, but didn't. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks, and I'm glad you like hearing about the new evil. Thanks for your review.**

**And that's it for the reviews. Thank you all for them. It was fun reading through them like old times and writing out responses. If you didn't write a review, but wish to express your opinion or comment on something, I encourage you to express yourself in a review. I enjoy answering them, so long as they don't cut into the plot.**

**Also, thank you everyone for the adds to your favs and alerts. I'm happy to see them, and hope that everyone enjoys this story.**

**Well, that's about all for me. I'll post again on Thursday. Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3**

Drawing a card, Yugi looked at both Illidan and Seto's fields. Finally making up his mind, Yugi called out "I play the spell Mystical Space Typhoon, taking out your face down card Illidan!"

A twister suddenly erupted from the spell card image, plowing straight for into Illidan's face down card image, shattering it and revealing it to be a trap card.

Lowly growling, Illidan mumbled "My Rising Energy…"

Smirking at his handy work, Yugi said "Dark Magician, attack Horus with Dark Spear Strike!"

Letting out a small battle cry, the purple robed mage instantly leapt into the air with his spear ready to strike.

"Before I complete my attack though, I play a trap! Go Magician's Circle! This activates when a Spellcaster Type monster is attacking. It gives each of us the ability to special summon a Spellcaster Type monster from our decks to the field in attack mode, so long as it has 2000 or less attack points."

Thumbing through is deck, Yugi slapped a monster card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)!"

On the field, a young woman with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with a dress that barely covered her butt, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand materialized.

Picking a card from his deck, Illidan calmly said "I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)."

Appearing onto the field was a young, childlike mage dressed in white robes with an odd mage's hat and a scepter in hand.

Finding his own card, Seto called out "I choose Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200)."

Instantly, a clown monster like the ones that had been summoned earlier in the duel appeared onto the field with a small chuckle.

Nodding, Yugi pointed at Illidan's black armored mage, saying "Don't forget, my attack is still in play, so say goodbye to your monster!"

The purple robed mage instantly went flying straight downwards from his high position in the air and ran his spear through the blue skinned mage, who cried out with pain. The lance was sticking out of the black armored mage's back when he shattered into millions of pieces.

"Dark Magician Girl, take down Illidan's Silent Magician with Burning Magic Attack!"

Letting out a set of short cries, the female mage released a black orb of magical energy straight at the weaker white robed mage. The child like mage was easily destroyed, leaving Illidan covering his face from the explosion.

"That's enough destruction for now." Yugi smugly commented. (Seto 7300, Yugi 8000, Illidan 6600)

Picking up a new card quickly, Illidan growled out "You'll regret that move last turn Yugi! Horus the Black Flame Dragon, snuff out Dark Magician Girl with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver dragon took flight and opened it's jaws, revealing dark flames licking the opening of it's mouth.

"Not quite Illidan, I play a trap! I activate Shadow Spell!" Seto declared, surprising both Yugi and Illidan.

Numerous chains instantly appeared from the trap card and wrapped around the jaws of the silver dragon and it's body, restraining it from moving. The dragon instantly screeched in distress and struggled to free itself, but couldn't.

"What have you done to my dragon!?" Illidan demanded.

Darkly chuckling, Seto smugly replied "Shadow Spell drains your dragon of 700 attack points, plus it stops your attack (2300 – 700 1600/1600). To boot, your dragon now can't attack or switch it's mode. It's immobilized."

Shocked, Illidan lightly grunted and looked at his distressed dragon. Lightly sighing and taking a calming breath, he pulled a new card from his hand and placed it horizontally onto his monster zone. "I set a monster and end my turn." (Seto 7300, Yugi 8000, Illidan 6600)

Staring at Illidan, Marie softly smiled. "_That's right Illidan, don't get worked up over last turn. Just stay calm._"

Drawing a card, Seto examined the card for a moment before saying "I activate Card of Demise! This spell let's me pick up cards till I hold five in my hand. Of course, in five turns I must discard my entire hand, but I'll have won by then."

Picking up four new cards, Seto darkly chuckled and then burst into a maniacal laughter. "You two are in for a bumpy ride! First, I play the spell Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up two more cards!"

Drawing his cards, Seto called out "I next activate the spell Burial from a Different Dimension, allowing me to return up to three monsters from my removed from play pile to my Graveyard, so return now Blue-Eyes White Dragon and my two Peten the Dark Clowns!"

Pulling all three cards from his Duel Disk's removed from play slot, Seto placed all three within his Graveyard Slot. One by one, the three monsters slid in, making him smirk even more with each. "I activate the spell Monster Reborn! Now return my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Reappearing onto the field, the white metallic looking dragon let out a massive roar, sending a chill down each and every monster, except the purple robed mage.

"It's time I eliminated the two of you! I play the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on my field with the two in my hand. Come together now my dragons and create Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Materializing onto the field on each side of the white metallic dragon were two more metallic white dragons. All three let out a massive roar, and they began to swirl together. A bright blinding light formed from their swirling, making both Illidan and Yugi cover their eyes. The light soon died down, revealing a much larger white metallic looking dragon with three heads, each with some kind of symbol on their foreheads. The three heads shared one body, which had a massive set of wings, powerful clawed hands and feet, and a massive tail. Each head let out a massive roar, shaking the very ground the duelists stood on.

Arya instantly woke up from her drowsiness and began to fuss, making Marie sigh heavily. "Damn you Kaiba…" she grumbled lowly.

Laughing manically, Seto pointed at the purple robed mage and called out "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack his pathetic Dark Magician with Neutron Blast!"

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam slammed into the purple robed mage, who let out a scream before vanishing quickly. The remainder of the blast struck Yugi, who was pushed backwards slightly.

With the dust settling, Yugi smirked slightly and said "Thank you Kaiba, for by destroying Dark Magician, you sent my Magic Formula spell with it. I now gain 1000 life points thanks to it's destruction."

Smirking, Seto pulled the remaining card in his hand out and showed it to both Illidan and Yugi, who each gasped in shock at it. "I think it matters very little Yugi, for I play the spell De-Fusion, splitting my dragon apart into the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) once more!"

The three headed dragon glowed lightly with a white light for a moment before splitting off into three separate metallic dragons.

Barking out orders, Kaiba yelled "First, attack Yugi's Dark Magician Girl!"

The first white dragon roared loudly and released a stream of white energy at the female mage.

The blast was about to tear through her when Yugi called out "Don't forget, when Dark Magician went to my Graveyard, my Dark Magician Girl got a bit stronger, 300 points to be exact (2000 + 300 2300/1700)!"

"Does her no good Yugi, because she's gone!" Seto angrily shouted back.

Continuing on, the white energy blew the young mage into millions of pieces, sending the remaining energy slamming into Yugi, who grunted loudly and fell to one knee.

"Next, attack Illidan's pathetic dragon with White Lightning!" Seto commanded.

With a mighty roar, the white metallic looking dragon released a stream of white energy straight at the weaker silver dragon. The silver dragon let out a loud screech when the blast blew it into millions of pieces, allowing the remainder of the blast strike Illidan. He somehow managed to remain standing, but was lightly panting from the shot.

"Now for that last monster! Blue-Eyes, White Lightning!"

Letting out a massive roar, the last white metallic looking dragon fired a beam of white energy straight at the horizontal card image. The blast struck the card image, revealing a black stream engine with grey puffy smoke pouring out of it's chimney. It had a strange, evil looking face painted on the front of it, with fangs poking out of it's mouth and an evil set of eyes. The train instantly shattered upon being revealed, sending out a small smokescreen.

"What the heck was that thing!?" Seto demanded, unsure of what had been destroyed.

Chuckling lightly, Illidan replied "That was my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000). When destroyed, his effect goes off, which let's me draw one card from my deck."

Watching Illidan draw a card, Seto shrugged and pointed at him and said "You're out of monsters, which is a good thing for me! Go Peten, direct attack Illidan with Phantom Plunge!"

Laughing merrily, the strange clown on Seto's field instantly vanished, making Illidan raise an eyebrow. Suddenly, behind him, the clown reappeared and stabbed Illidan in the back, making him fall forward to one knee while grasping his chest.

"I think that shall do for now. Come you two, you're no fun. Try and fight back at the least." (Seto 7300, Yugi 6800, Illidan 4800)

Drawing a card, Yugi slapped a monster card horizontally onto his Duel Disk and confidently said "I summon Kuriboh (300/200) in defense mode."

Appearing onto the field with a small "Kree!" sound was a brown fur ball creature with purple eyes and small green arms and feet.

"I'll end with a face down card." (Seto 7300, Yugi 6800, Illidan 4800)

Grabbing a new card, Illidan pondered on it for a moment. After thinking it over, he finally said "I summon Allure Queen LV3 (500/500) to the field in defense."

Slowly, on the field, a sparking began to materialize. From it, a woman with short brown hair, a black round hat, mischievous eyes, black gloves that reached up to her armpits, a silver and red sort of collar that attached to a long black dress with a maroon colored corset appeared. In her right gloved hand was a staff with a golden ring like object on the end, encrusted with jewels, and a single red jewel on the inside of the circle. Raising her right hand, the mischievous woman's left index finger caught fire. She only stared at it with the flames bouncing off of her eyes.

"When my mage is summoned, she is allowed to equip a level three or lower monster to herself that is on the field. I think I'll snag your Peten there Seto."

Winking at the clown, who blushed, the female mage pointed her staff at the clown and fired a ruby beam at him. Caught completely off guard, the clown vanished in a moment, but an image of him could soon be seen in the female mage's jewel in her staff.

"I'll place a card face down and end my turn at that." (Seto 7300, Yugi 6800, Illidan 4800)

"Nicely done Illidan." Marie mumbled while still rocking Arya. She had settled after the massive explosions and roars, but was still rather grumpy.

Smiling down at the child, Marie cooed to her, saying "Don't worry, Daddy will win."

Grunting in disdain at Marie's comments to her child, Seto drew his card and called out "It's time I wipe you two pathetic fools out! Blue-Eyes, ready yourselves!"

All three dragons roared loudly, making Arya instantly begin fussing once more.

Glaring at Seto, Marie rocked her daughter gently and cooed out "There, there Arya, those big bad dragons will be quiet soon. Daddy will make them shut up."

Throwing a hot glare at Marie, Seto growled lowly but returned his vision to Illidan and Yugi. Noting Illidan had nothing but a face down card and the female mage, Kaiba yelled "Game over Illidan! Blue-Eyes, wipe out his pathetic mage with White Lightning!"

A single white metallic dragon roared loudly and opened it's jaws. White energy began flooding from it's throat into it's jaws. Opening it's jaws wide, the dragon spat a beam of hot searing white energy at the female mage, who stared on fearlessly.

Watching the incoming stream, Illidan pointed at his face down card, saying "I'm not going away that easily Seto! Go Draining Shield! Thanks to this trap, your dragon's attack is negated and it's attack points are added to my life points, meaning I get a nice 3000 point bonus."

Appearing before the female mage was a golden energy shield, which took the blast head on. The white energy blast was absorbed and shot directly to Illidan's Duel Disk, increasing his life point counter greatly.

"That might be so Illidan, but you still take some damage from my remaining dragons! Second Blue-Eyes, destroy that mage!" Kaiba commanded.

The next dragon opened up it's jaws and fired a similar beam like the other dragon had from it's jaws. The female mage stood her ground, showing no signs of fear. With moments to spare, the mage threw a red barrier up, which the white beam struck and began grinding against for a few moments till finally it fizzled out. With the barrier lowering, it became obvious the clown that had been in her staff's jewel was now missing.

Grinding his teeth together, Seto roared out "What happened!? Why is she still standing!?"

"It's rather simple Seto." Illidan calmly began with a small smirk. "When my mage equips a monster to herself, if she's attacked, she can use that monster as a shield. That monster takes the hit for her, thus saving her from being destroyed."

Clenching his jaw, Seto fired back "You'll pay for that Illidan! Final Blue-Eyes, destroy his pathetic mage!"

Roaring loudly, the final white metallic dragon opened it's jaws and shot a beam of white energy straight for the female mage. The female mage didn't remain calm this time, for fear filled her face and eyes. Within a moment, the blast struck her, erasing her from the field.

"I end!" (Seto 6700, Yugi 6800, Illidan 4800)

Picking up a card, Yugi examined it and glanced at Illidan, then at Seto. After a moment, he finally said "I summon Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field was a brown lion like creature with a black mane, a horn on his forehead, glowing yellow eyes, and sharp clawed hands and feet.

"Next, I'll switch Kuriboh into attack mode. Now my monsters, direct attack Illidan!" Yugi commanded.

Both monsters nodded on queue and charged forward at Illidan. The lion creature was first to strike, swiping it's claws against Illidan's chest, making him cry out in pain and take a step backwards. Next, the fur ball creature slammed into him, exploding instantly on contact, sending Illidan to one knee. From the carnage, the small fur ball creature, now charred black, landed on Yugi's field and shot out a puff of smoke.

"I end my turn." (Seto 6700, Yugi 6800, Illidan 3000)

Illidan's chest heaved a bit while he tried desperately to catch his breath. Smirking at Illidan, Kaiba smugly asked "Would you like to quit Illidan? I'm sure you're quite worn out."

Yugi looked with concern showing in his eyes at his friend, but knew better than to ask what Kaiba had. Deep down, he knew Kaiba's taunt wouldn't get Illidan to quit. "_No matter what the situation, Illidan never gives up._"

Watching Illidan's breathing finally calm down, Marie saw him slightly smile. Smiling herself, she looked down at Arya, who had been wailing whenever Illidan was being pummeled by both Seto and Yugi. Now she was calm, seemingly knowing what she was thinking about the little girl's father.

"_No, Illidan won't surrender, not now. He'll fight till he has zero life points or collapses._" Marie determined.

Standing back up on shaky legs, both Kaiba and Yugi saw the smile Illidan wore. Lightly chuckling, Illidan calmly said "This duel has been rather entertaining so far. I must say, it's been so long since I've had such a strong set of opponents. Ever since I dueled Jaden, I must say, I haven't been this tested."

Looking back up at both, he chuckled and added "Yes, I must say, you two are pushing me harder than ever."

Smile vanishing and a face of calmness washed over it. "Still…" he began while raising his hand to his deck. "I'm not prepared to lose just yet!"

Quickly drawing his card, Illidan examined it and smirked. "I'll kick this turn off by setting one card face down and play the spell Card Destruction! This forces all of us to discard our entire hands to the Graveyard and draw the same number of cards we discard. Since I have three left, I get three cards, while Seto gets two and Yugi nothing."

Placing the three cards within his Graveyard Slot, Illidan picked up three new cards and smirked once more. At the same time, Seto grudgingly placed his two cards in his Graveyard Slot and drew two new ones as well.

"I activate Pot of Greed, letting me draw two new cards!" Illidan declared while grabbing two cards from his deck. "Next, I play a spell card, Smashing Ground, allowing me to destroy one monster on the field with the most defense points. Since all three of your dragons have 2500 defense, they're in a tie, but I get to pick which is destroyed, but it matters little, so say good bye to one of your dragons!"

A large fist suddenly appeared above the field and came flying down and smashed into one of the white dragons, shattering it while it roared out in pain.

Seeing Seto glaring at him, Illidan ignored it and said "I remove from play Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive and Silent Magician LV4 to special summon an old friend of mine, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2800)!"

Emerging onto the field, a warrior in black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, a black helmet, with a bronze colored sword in his right hand and a powerful black and gold shield in his left let out a small battle cry.

"Want more, then why don't I reveal my face down! Go Monster Reborn! This let's me bring back from my Graveyard my Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Returning to the field with a might roar was the powerful silver dragon that looked like a large bird of prey.

"I'm not done yet, for I play the spell Rush Recklessly, and use it on Black Luster Soldier! His attack points increase by 700 points (3000 + 700 3700/2500) for this turn only."

Glowing with a white aura, the soldier raised his sword up high, causing the glowing white aura to focus around it.

"Let loose the dogs of war and cut those dragons down with Chaos Slash!" Illidan cried out.

Rushing forward with incredible speed, the warrior struck the first white metallic dragon hard across the chest, making it roar loudly in pain before shattering. A large cloud of smoke instantly followed the explosion, hiding the position of the soldier.

"Thanks to his special ability, my soldier can attack again, so destroy his other dragon!"

Flying out of the smoke cloud, the soldier suddenly slashed the remaining white dragon in half, causing the dragon roar out loudly before exploding into millions of pieces.

Pointing at Seto, Illidan called out "Horus, direct attack with Darkness Flames!"

Roaring to life, the silver dragon released a stream of black flames straight at Seto, hitting him hard and knocking him to one knee and leaving him panting heavily.

"I'll throw down a face down card and end my turn." (Seto 3000, Yugi 6800, Illidan 3000)

Smiling at Illidan's work, Marie glanced down to see a happy Arya lightly giggling and gurgling. "You're happy daddy made a comeback too, aren't you?" she asked the child with a silly expression.

Roaring out loud with anger upon standing back up, Seto yelled "You won't make a mockery of me Illidan Stormrage!"

Roughly drawing, Seto examined the card and began to darkly chuckle. "It's time I evened things out, but first I think I'll take care of Yugi. After all, I can't leave my greatest rival out, now can I? I activate the spell Dragon's Mirror, allowing me to remove from play my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in order to fuse them together and form my ultimate dragon once more, my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

One by one, two monster cards slid out of Seto's Graveyard Slot and into his awaiting hand. Picking the two up and then grabbing the third off his Duel Disk, he flashed them at Illidan and Yugi, causing three white metallic dragons to appear. Placing them into his removed from play slot, he grabbed his new monster and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, causing the large three headed white dragon to reappear onto the field.

"Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, eliminate Yugi's Gazelle with Neutron Blast!"

Roaring loudly, each head opened their jaws and released a stream of white energy straight at the brown lion creature. The lion could only roar out in pain from the extreme pressure of the blast before vanishing in it. The remainder of the blast continued on, striking Yugi and making him scream out in pain.

The blast soon cleared, revealing Yugi on one knee, panting heavily. Kaiba smirked greatly and said "This duel is over for you Yugi, and for you Illidan. Neither of you should have challenged me!"

Chuckling darkly, Illidan called out "You're right about one thing Kaiba. This duel is over, but not just for me and Yugi, but for all three of us."

Confused, Seto asked "What are you babbling about?"

"I'm just stating the obvious Seto. None of us can win this duel. We're far too even for one another." Illidan calmly remarked.

Still confused, Seto replied "You're making no sense. This duel is still going, with you and Yugi about to lose at my hands."

Smiling, Illidan shook his head and calmly said "Not quite. This duel ends now, but not quite at your hands due that I'm ending it. It's the only to finish things without them going too far."

"What on earth are you babbling about!? You're making absolutely no sense!" Kaiba exclaimed irritably.

Pointing at his face down card, Illidan calmly said "This is what I'm talking about. I reveal my trap, Ring of Destruction."

Both Yugi and Kaiba's eyes now became glued on the large collar like ring that formed onto Illidan's field that held numerous explosive bombs on the outer part of the ring.

"This game was fun, but before it goes too far, I'm ending it. I'll use this on Seto's dragon, meaning game over for all three of us. It has 4500 attack points, meaning each of us will lose due that none of us has even close to that amount of life points." Illidan explained.

Smiling while pointing at the large three headed dragon, Illidan said "Good game. Ring of Destruction, end it!"

Spinning rapidly, the collar with explosives attached went flying straight at the large three headed dragon. Instantly, the collar widened and opened up till it was large enough to slip over the three heads of the dragons. Firmly attached, the explosives attached to the collar began to glow softly red at first, then a more brilliant color of red. The three headed dragon struggled greatly, trying hard to free itself.

Moments later, the explosives were glowing bright white, and without warning, ignited. The three headed dragon barely had time to roar loudly before it shattered into millions of pieces. The explosion rocked the entire arena, striking Illidan, Seto, and Yugi simultaneously and knocking them to the ground roughly. Marie covered Arya's face with her own, hoping to keep the bright blinding light away from her.

A few minutes passed before the explosion cleared, revealing all three duelists knocked onto their back, each lying very still. Marie softly gasped at the carnage and noted that all three's life point counters had reached zero and their Duel Disks were all powered down.

Getting up, she ran down to the field and checked on Illidan first. Finding him breathing heavily but alright for the most part, she lightly sighed and moved on to check Yugi. Realizing Yugi was in the same condition, she quickly checked Seto and decided all three were just extremely tired and out of breath.

After a few minutes, each slowed their breathing, with Illidan first to sit up, only to grumble about the pain. Yugi and Kaiba soon followed suit and managed to move into sitting positions eventually.

Panting lightly, Yugi lightly chuckled and weakly said "Not bad Illidan. You really brought the duel to a close."

"Yeah, with a big bang." Kaiba sarcastically added with a small smirk.

Chuckling himself, Illidan lightly shrugged and slowly said "Thanks. I figured it was time to call it a night."

"You three need to get a new hobby." Marie grunted with irritation.

Smirking at her, Illidan replied "You love this hobby just as much as we do."

Thinking for a moment, she lightly giggled and said "I suppose so."

Sighing lightly, Illidan stood up and turned to Seto, who was slowly standing, along with Yugi. "Good duel guys. I think that'll do it for us."

Nodding, Seto asked "When will you be in to sign the papers to go back to the island?"

"Tomorrow, I suppose." Illidan nonchalantly replied. "We'll call when on the way."

With that said, Marie, with Arya in her arms, and a slow moving Illidan walked out of the dueling arena.


	4. Chapter 4: Return to the Academy

Chapter 4

**Hello again everyone! Well, not much has happened since last time. Eh, other than being annoyed by things my dad comes up with. Sometimes I ponder if he has nothing better to do than work on the farm… I would think spending time with his wife and/or family would come first, but oh well, maybe that's just me.**

**Writing wise, I'm still cranking away at **_**Another**_**. I should have enough done on it soon so that I can return to working on this story again.**

**Last time, the battle between Yugi, Seto, and Illidan ended in a draw when Illidan blew away his competition with Ring of Destruction. Now that the duel is over, what will happen to the happy couple and their daughter?**

**Ok, moving on, it's review time!**

**DuelistBlake1852: Yep, it was a draw. Lol, a rematch, I hope not, hehe. True, he decided to end it probably due to his daughter, and maybe due that it was all he could do at the time. Yeah, he was exhausted at the time also, so maybe he gave up due to that. Heh, yes, people tend to keep on going when they're tired, at least till they pass out, hehe. True, back to Duel Academy for the happy couple. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks about the draw. Yes, the Shadows still live, but who is controlling them is a good question. Marik's darkness is gone, and Yami Bakura is gone, so that leaves a lot of question mark. True, it could be an OC, but you never know with me, hehe. Lol, yes, I'm sure Arya wasn't happy with the explosion. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Yep, I like giving surprise endings, lol. Neither Yugi or Illidan, even Seto, would ever call it quits when they're fighting that hard. I'm sure Jaden and the others are going to be ecstatic to see the happy couple, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master. Thanks. You're right, I made a mistake. I had corrected it I thought, but I somehow left part of it behind. Sorry about that. There should have been one BEWD left, so my bad. Thanks for pointing my mistake out. I suppose I need to correct it and republish the chapter. Again, thanks for that and for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Eh, I thought about him using BESD, but I decided not to do it. Glad you liked the duel. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews today. Thank you all for each and everyone one of them. I really appreciate them. If you happen to have not reviewed, but had questions or comments, feel free to post them in a review this time around. I enjoy answering all reviews, so I'd be more than happy to answer any questions and comments, so long as they don't reveal the plot.**

**I think that's about it, so I'm going to go back and fix the last chapter. Once I finish that, it should be good. So, without any further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 4**

Relaxing on the soft couch, Illidan slowly closed his eyes. The last few days had been a blur to him, with him and Marie quickly packing up everything that they had needed to take back to Duel Academy Island. Marie had again insisted on taking more than necessary, but Illidan had learned by now not to argue with his wife on such trivial matters. If he did, he knew he'd only receive a headache and a lecture on why she needed the things she was taking.

"_All too troublesome..._" he grumbled deeply in his mind.

Once they had finished packing up everything they would need, along with everything for Arya, the pair had been picked up once more like last time. Now they were at sea on a mid-sized boat that ferried people to and from Duel Academy, although it was a nice boat nonetheless.

Cracking an eye open, Illidan softly smiled at the sight of Marie nursing Arya. "_My two girls._" he warmly thought.

Noting Illidan had an eyes cracked open, Marie smiled and then looked back down at their daughter. Arya was nearly asleep and had just about finished. Deciding she was probably done, Marie picked her up and set her back into her crib. Readjusting her clothing to cover her breast, she smiled at their sleeping daughter. Kissing her forehead, Marie left the crib and wondered over to Illidan and sat down into his lap.

Rubbing a hand over his cheek, she softly smiled and suggestively said "You look tired. Why don't you go lay down?"

"I can sleep later." he grumbled.

Sighing, Marie stood up and walked off into the bedroom. Being left alone once more, Illidan softly sighed and closed his eyes to ponder over his thoughts.

"_So many things right now are uncertain. Syrus vanished without a trace from the academy, and not long after that Crowler did too. Why Syrus could have vanished, I have no idea... Still, Crowler's vanishing is just as strange._"

Scowling in his mind, he added "_Not very long after Crowler vanished, the students began to vanish, but they reappeared a few days later, completely drained of their energy. Who or what could be doing this, and why drain their energy? It seems like whoever is doing this takes every bit of a person's energy that they can, except for their life force energy. What could be so important that they need all of that energy?_"

Lightly sighing, Illidan yawned and reopened his eyes, only to find Marie slowly walking into the room dressed in a black and pink chemise that had 'Angel' wrote on the bottom of it with a pink thong peeking out from under the bottom of it, and a sly smile on her face and lust pouring out her eyes. Feeling more awake than before, he eyed her, noting how the black and pink fabric clung to her body in all the right places, accentuating the curves of her body. Licking his lips, he felt his body growing increasingly hot while she moved towards him.

Offering her hand to him, he gladly took it and stood up. She quickly pulled him away from the main room to their bedroom. Upon entering it, he smiled and closed the door to where only a small crack of it remained open.

--

Twenty minutes after the happy couple had vanished, Arya woke up and began wailing for her parents. Marie instantly came running out of the room with only her pink thong on to check on their daughter while Illidan laid on the bed growling lowly in only his boxer shorts.

"I swear, she knows exactly when to cry…" he gruffly bit out.

Glaring at Illidan while holding Arya in her arms, Marie harshly snapped back "She can't help it! She's just a baby Illidan, for crying out loud! It's not like she's purposely keeping us from doing anything!"

"Sometimes I wonder…" he lowly muttered.

The comment earned him another glare instantly. Rubbing Arya's back lightly, Marie sighed and sat down on the couch with the crying infant. "There, there Arya, your Daddy didn't mean to be such a **jerk**! I know you wouldn't do it on purpose."

Heavily sighing, Illidan closed his eyes, pondering if life would ever become normal again with Arya seemingly on guard always.

--

A day later, the pair entered into the house they had lived in a year ago, making the married couple a bit nostalgic of the past year. Memories of their Christmas, the good times that Fall, and bad times that Spring poured out in a small whirlwind in the pair's minds.

Noting their stuff had already arrived, Marie softly chuckled and said "Here we are one year later, unpacking the same stuff again."

"Yeah, it's lots of fun, plus we brought extra this time around plus one more person." Illidan teased.

Throwing a sharp glare at him, Marie softened her expression and softly giggled. "I guess so."

Deciding to put Arya down for a while, Marie began to ascend the stairs, leaving Illidan behind to begin sorting out what went where on his own. Not even a minute gone, Illidan heard Marie angrily exclaim "NO FREAKING WAY! KAIBA, YOU JERK!"

Frowning at his wife's outburst, Illidan walked upstairs to see what his wife was fusing about. Finding her staring into the room next door to their own at the door frame, he raised an eyebrow and glanced in himself.

Inside was a baby's room, decorated entirely in blue and white, with images of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon imprinted on about everything. There was a blanket hanging off of a crib with the dragons on it, a small mobile with a few of the dragons hanging from it, a small stuffed white dragon, and the wallpaper was covered in the dragons.

Looking to Illidan, Marie exclaimed "That stupid Kaiba! Why in the seven hells he decided to decorate this room in all of this dragon crap, I'll never know!"

"Well, it is all for Arya, and at least he tried." Illidan replied with a shrug.

Not pleased with the answer, Marie sternly said "She's staying in our room. No way am I leaving her in this."

"Dear, she's old enough to sleep in her own room. Isn't it about time you let…"

"NO!" Marie snarled, making Illidan backup a bit.

Seeing there was no point in arguing, he let out a ragged sigh and nodded. The pair proceeded to their own room, finding everything was nearly the same as it had been a year ago.

"Illidan, can you go get the crib from downstairs and bring it up?" Marie asked with a warning tone still present in her voice.

Not wanting to argue still, Illidan nodded and went downstairs. Retrieving the crib, he returned soon enough to their room and set it up. Once Marie had laid down some sheets and blankets, she gently set Arya into the crib, who was already drifting off to sleep.

Both the parents finally collapsed onto the bed themselves, each exhausted from their trip. Yawning, Marie curled up into Illidan's arms. Softly smiling, he pulled her back against his body warmth and grabbed the nearby blanket and dragged it over the two of them. Each soon fell asleep, unwilling to wake till morning or whenever Arya decided it was time.

--

Waking early the next morning, Illidan silently crept out of the pair's room. Arya had slept a majority of the night, with her only waking twice, each time to be fed. Grabbing some clothes nearby that he had set out, he quietly walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

The pair had arrived on a Saturday, meaning no class, but still, Illidan wanted to check in with the Chancellor, along with seeing his students from the year before and meeting with Yugi.

Stepping into the shower, Illidan let out a small sigh when the warm water began pouring over his body. Enjoying the water, he stood in it for several minutes before finally cleaning up. Finished, he shut off the water and grabbed his towel, quickly drying off.

Looking into the mirror before him, he quickly grabbed his hair brush that he had unpacked and brushed out his long hair. For years, when he was a teenager, before meeting Marie, he had kept his hair short, but eventually grew tired of this and wanted to see his hair long for once. After it had grown out to reach below his shoulder blades, Illidan found that he liked his hair this way, and noted girls seemed to take more notice of him also. Of course, it wasn't long after finding this out that he met Marie, thus ignored any and all girls who ogled over his hair afterwards.

Finishing up, he grabbed his new clothes and dressed quickly. Once dressed and ready to head out into public, Illidan quietly walked out of the bathroom to find Arya and Marie still fast asleep. Smiling at their slumbering forms, he grabbed a piece of paper that was on the nearby bookshelf and scribbled down a note, explaining where he had gone. Done, he sat it beside the bed for Marie to find and quietly crept downstairs and out of the house.

Enjoying the warm sunshine outside, Illidan softly let out a contented sigh. The spring had been reasonably warm as of late in Tokyo, but not warm and seasonably beautiful as it was at Duel Academy. Taking his time to walk to the Chancellor's home, Illidan noted the beauty of nature surrounding him, but kept his senses open for any Shadow Magic that might pop up.

Arriving at the Chancellor's home with no incident, he softly rapped on the door. Not even a minute later, a bald man with dark brown eyes, a brown beard and mustache, and a heavy build came to the door. He wore a simple pair of jeans and a long red sweatshirt.

"Professor Illidan Stormrage, what a surprise! I didn't know you had made it in yet."

Softly smiling at the man, Illidan replied "Yes, me, Marie, and our daughter arrived late last night. It's good to see you again Chancellor Shepherd."

Motioning him in, the Chancellor said "Please, come in!"

Obeying, Illidan entered the plush home. The house was rather luxurious, much more so than their own home, but a tad more due to the personal tastes of the one that owned it. Being shown into an office, Illidan took a chair in front of a desk while the Chancellor sat down in the chair behind it.

"Have a nice trip back?"

Nodding, Illidan softly smiled and said "Yes, it was a nice trip back. The weather wasn't bad at all."

"Good to hear. I hope the two of you are ready for the new and old students, plus the duelists that are to come for the Genex Tournament." the Chancellor commented.

"We hope we are." Illidan replied honestly. Turning serious, he asked "You do know why we were brought here, right?"

Sobering himself, the Chancellor seriously nodded and said "Yes, you were brought here due to the recent events involving students being attacked. None of the ones attacked remember a thing, or who their assailant was. It's like their memories were erased."

Frowning lightly, Illidan pondered on information presented to him. "_No memories? That could only mean one thing: a Shadow Game more than likely._"

"I don't know what we'll do if someone is attacked during the tournament. I only hope now that you, Marie, and Yugi Moto are here, we can put an end to this senseless attacks on the students." the Chancellor added. "And I hope we can find Professor Crowler and Syrus Truesdale also."

Realizing something, Illidan asked "How has Zane taken losing his brother?"

"Not well." Shepherd responded. "He goes out nightly, patrolling the grounds, looking for any signs of this mysterious assailant or Syrus. He hasn't stopped since the night it happened, and has yet to lose hope that Syrus is alive."

"Do you think he is?" Illidan questioned.

Deeply sighing, the Chancellor sadly said "I don't know… It's been far too long for him to be alright."

Pausing for a moment, he quickly added "But then again, I'm not ruling it out yet. After all, Atticus Rhodes survived becoming a Shadow Rider and returned a few years later. It's possible, but I am unsure."

"Don't lose hope." Illidan piped up, earning him a questionable glance from the Chancellor. "Syrus maybe small, but many have underestimated him. For him to have stood up to Zell last year with Hasselberry's help and to duel Zell again when in Zane's body, that kid has courage and hidden strength. Don't count him out yet."

Nodding lightly, the Chancellor smiled and said "Very true, Syrus is a survivor. I'm sure he'll make it this time as well."

"We can always hope so." Illidan added. "Now then, I did have a question. When are the duelists for the Genex Tournament to arrive?"

Tapping his chin with his index finger, Shepherd finally replied "This Friday. The tournament starts next Monday, but Friday the Pro League Duelists and the students from the other schools arrive. Also, we will have an exhibition match on Sunday with two random duelists."

"That sounds interesting. I guess we have the week to prepare then. Are classes cancelled next week?"

Nodding in response, the Chancellor responded with "Yes, for two weeks, there will be no classes. Hopefully we won't get too far behind in the curriculums."

"I see." Illidan commented. Sanding up, he smiled and said "Well then, I suppose I should expect the new arrivals Friday then. I can't wait."

Standing as well, the Chancellor nodded and inquired "Leaving so soon?"

"Yes, I must. I have a few stops to make before returning home. Marie and Arya were still sleeping when I left, but I left them a note saying I wouldn't be gone too long." Illidan explained.

Lightly chuckling, Chancellor Shepherd nodded and replied "Very well, I understand. I look forward to seeing you in the classroom again tomorrow."

"I look forward to it myself." Illidan remarked. "Till next time Chancellor Shepherd."

With that said, Illidan walked towards the door with the Chancellor trailing. Reaching it, he opened it and walked out. Giving one last farewell, he walked off in the direction of the Obelisk Blue Dorm, with the Chancellor watching him leave.

"I only hope you are able to end these attacks Illidan. I truly hope you can." Shepherd whispered to himself.

--

Reaching the large blue dorm quickly, Illidan spotted the beautiful home nearby. It was a bit larger than his and Marie's home, and had many interesting pieces of what could be called art in the front yard.

Making it to the front porch, Illidan spotted a young woman with sky blue eyes and brown hair that came down to her mid-back, wearing a blue colored robe and had a mug of steaming warm coffee in her hand that was sitting in a porch chair. She glanced up once she heard him approaching and softly smiled.

"Good morning Illidan." she sweetly said.

Smiling back at her, Illidan took a nearby seat beside her and replied "Good morning to you too Tea. You're up early."

"I tend to get up early anymore. Especially when I was the only one home, so old habits are hard to break." she nonchalantly commented. Warmly smiling once more, she added "It's beautiful here at this dorm."

Lightly chuckling, Illidan nodded in response and said "That it is. Kaiba sure made it the most beautiful on the campus."

"What do you expect? The Obelisk Dorm represents the best, and he once thought he was the best." Tea slyly commented with a smirk.

"Once?" Illidan smugly questioned.

Giggling, Tea stood up and said "Still does I suppose."

Chuckling himself, Illidan rose up and asked "Is Yugi up yet?"

"No, he's still in bed. Would you like me to get him up?"

Shaking his head, Illidan turned to leave, saying "Don't worry about it. I just came to talk with him. I'll stop by later or something."

"Alright, don't be a stranger. Have Marie come visit with Arya sometime." Tea remarked.

"Shall do, thanks." Illidan replied while walking off the porch and back towards the Slifer Dorms.

--

Calmly walking back, Illidan softly smiled upon hearing a familiar voice nearby. It was one he had heard constantly from phone calls since he left, not to mention visits during vacation time for the students.

Deciding to move in the direction of the voices, Illidan came upon an open field to find a duel taking place. On one side, a young man with light short black hair, grey eyes, and wore a yellow blazer with grey pants and had a Duel Disk strapped to his left arm. On his field, he had three magnet creatures that appeared to be some kind of warriors and a face down card.

On the other side of the field, Illidan softly smiled at the young man with shaggy looking brown hair, brown eyes, a big goofy grin on his face, and wearing a red blazer that was unbuttoned, revealing a black shirt and a pair of grey pants. On his arm, a Duel Disk like his opponent was powered up. His field was bare, with exception of one face down card.

"Jaden, this duel is over. Watch as I have Magnet Warrior Omega Minus (1900/600) direct attack you!" the young man in yellow called out.

Rushing forward, the purple magnet creature pulled his sword into a position where he could easily slash.

Nearly midway across the field, Jaden pointed at his face down card, calling out "Not happening Bastion! I play my trap, A Hero Emerges! Thanks to this trap, you have to randomly select a card from my hand, and if it's a monster, I get to special summon it."

Revealing his left hand, Jaden waved a single card at Bastion. "As you can see, I only have one, so let's get down to business. I summon my Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Upon the card being slapped to Jaden's Duel Disk, a flash of light appeared in the sky and suddenly a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints touched down onto the ground. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

Gasping in shock, Bastion lightly growled while his purple magnet creature leapt back to his side of the field. "I'll switch my two remaining monsters to defense mode and end my turn."

Picking up a card, Jaden showed it, saying "I play the spell Pot of Greed, meaning two new cards for me!"

Drawing two cards quickly, Jaden smirked great big and said "Game over Bastion, for I play the spell R – Righteous Justice! For each Elemental Hero on my field, I get to destroy a spell or trap card. Since you only have one, I can destroy it!"

The spell card holo image instantly shot out a red beam at the face down card, shattering it upon impact, making Bastion cringe. "My Magic Cylinder…" he lowly muttered.

"To end it all, I play the spell H – Heated Heart, raising Neo's attack points by 500 (2500 + 500 3000/2000) for this turn."

A blue 'H' suddenly went flying into the back of the white warrior, making him begin to glow with a light blue aura.

"Neos, attack Omega Minus with Cosmic Crush!"

Leaping into the air, the white warrior quickly began his descent towards the purple magnet creature. Rapidly approaching, the white warrior pulled back his right fist and began concentrating blue energy into it, causing it to swirl around it. Within range, the warrior made a chopping motion, cutting the purple magnet warrior in two easily, causing a thunderous explosion to ensue. Smoke billowed from the blast while Bastion cried out from the strike and fell to one knee.

Once the smoke cleared, Bastion's Duel Disk was seen to have zero life points, making it shutdown, along with Jaden's. The holograms on the field instantly vanished, leaving only Bastion and Jaden behind.

Pointing two fingers at Bastion, Jaden remarked "That's game, and a sweet one at that."

"Good show old bean." Bastion replied while standing up.

Smiling at the two students, Illidan began clapping his hands, earning him their gazes immediately.

Breaking out into another big goofy smile, Jaden rushed forward while shouting "Illidan!"

"Professor Stormrage, what a surprise." Bastion added with a touch of shock and began to stroll over.

Lightly smiling at the two, Illidan embraced Jaden when he arrived. Releasing the young man, Illidan ruffed his hair lightly. "Good to see you again Jaden, and you too Bastion." he warmly commented.

"So, you're back to teach again I take it?" Bastion curiously asked.

Nodding in reply, Illidan calmly said "Yes, me and Marie have both returned to teach the rest of the year, plus to become headmasters of the Slifer Dorm again."

"I know Zane will be so disappointed." Jaden sarcastically remarked.

Chuckling, Illidan replied "I know. It's up to me and Marie to do all the fun jobs again."

"Better you guys than me." Jaden jabbed.

"I suppose…" Illidan said with a sigh. "So, how are you two doing?"

Smiling great big, Jaden quickly responded with "Great! I'm just getting ready for the Genex Tournament! I'm hoping to get another duel with you, Yugi Moto, Seto Kaiba, Marie, and all of the other Pro League Duelists!"

"What am I, leftovers?" Bastion irritably asked.

Turning to his friend, Jaden smiled once more and sheepishly said "I didn't mean to make you sound bad Bastion. You're a great duelist, and you keep getting better. I look forward to when me and you duel, but I'm kind of just anticipating these other duels more."

Heavily sighing, Bastion softly smirked and said "I suppose it's alright, seeing how I'm wanting to find out how I stack up to the Pro League Duelists myself. Also, we have to compete with the other schools that sent students for the tournament."

"That is so true. You two won't be just facing Pro League Duelists, but some of your own peers." Illidan added.

"We'll be ready!" Jaden excitedly concluded.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan smiled and said "I'm sure you two will be."

--

Arriving home, Illidan found Marie with Arya sitting in the floor of the front room. The two were playing peek-a-boo, making him warmly smile.

"Having fun?" he softly asked, making Marie jump a bit.

Catching her breath, Marie coolly replied "I suppose. How did your rounds go?"

"Not bad. I talked with the Chancellor and Jaden. Yugi was in bed yet, so I left him there." Illidan calmly said. Crouching down to pick up their daughter, he asked "When did you two get up?"

Tapping her chin for a moment, Marie finally replied "It was about twenty minutes ago. Arya decided it was time to get up and I fed her. Since then, we came downstairs and played a bit."

"Sounds fun. How about I make some breakfast?"

Smiling warmly, Marie nodded appreciatively. Handing Arya back to Marie, Illidan headed towards the kitchen to fix their breakfast.

--

The week quickly passed by for the returning two headmasters. Daycare was provided for Arya gladly by Tea, who was exceptionally happy to take care of her. Marie had a bit of trouble letting go, but slowly coped with it.

The students were extremely happy to see their former teachers once more, and even happier to see Yugi teaching. Many asked for his autograph the first day, although some asked for Illidan's as well, but not as many that sought Yugi's. Many classes were disrupted, but few teachers seemed to care since they were intrigued by Yugi and Illidan as well.

Finally, Friday arrived and all of the students were gathered up into the auditorium. Illidan, Marie, and Yugi were asked to stay near the stage for introductions. All three wore their uniforms, with Illidan and Marie wearing their red ones and Yugi his blue one. Near the trio, four students and a group of Pro League Duelists stood.

Taking the stage at long last, Chancellor Shepherd cleared his throat and announced "May I have your attention please?"

The auditorium quickly quieted with the Chancellor smiling. Noting he had their full attention, he said "Welcome students to today's festivities. First off, I wish to congratulate all of you on your studies thus far this year. Grades are up this year, which is a good start, and there is still nearly half a semester left to go. I look forward to seeing how everyone does."

"Next, I wish to introduce three teachers, each whom are headmasters of two dorms. The first two were here last year and ran the Slifer Dorm. They have returned for the remainder of the semester, so please help me welcome back Professor Illidan and Marie Stormrage!"

Walking up on stage, both Illidan and Marie smiled at the warm welcome they received from the students. All of the students were clapping their hands, some screaming out in appreciation, others in happiness. Each waved lightly and moved right behind the Chancellor.

"And next, it gives me a great honor to introduce our temporary headmaster for the Obelisk Blue Dorm. Many of you know him as the King of Games, but in class, he will be known as Professor Yugi Moto!"

Doing as Illidan and Marie did, Yugi walked up onto stage and received a deafening round of applause. He could only smile and lightly wave while moving beside of Illidan and Marie.

"Glad your famous still?" Marie whispered, earning her a small smile from Yugi.

Making a calming motion with his hands, the Chancellor finally quieted the crowd. Standing straight, the Chancellor cleaned his throat and said "Now then, since the teachers have been introduced, I'd like to move on to explaining what will happen next week."

"As all of you know, the Genex Tournament is due to begin next week. I shall explain the purpose behind it now from the note that the creator of the tournament, Mr. Seto Kaiba, sent me."

Pulling the note out of his front pocket on his shirt, Chancellor Shepherd cleared his throat and began to read aloud.

"Dear students and Pro Duelists,

I am sure many of you ponder what this tournament is about. To put it simply, this tournament is much like how the Battle City Tournament was. It is to invigorate young duelists and to put them against the best of the world. Gathered here today are the best of the world. There are Pro League Duelists, championship caliper schools, and Duel Academy itself. This tournament will test the young duelists against the pros, allowing each to put their skills to the test, along with proving themselves as capable duelists. In the end, one duelist will come out on top, and they will be known as the best of the best. I wish all of you luck in the tournament, and wish many of you luck in avoiding me once I arrive to duel.

Sincerely,

CEO of Kaiba Corp,

Seto Kaiba"

Folding the letter up, Chancellor Shepherd placed it back within his shirt pocket and said "Students, this tournament could be the biggest of all of your young lives. I wish all of you luck in it, and hope to see many of you make it to the finals."

Smiling a bit more, the Chancellor added "In the meantime, I shall now introduce your future opponents!"

Motioning to his right, he said "First, I shall introduce to you the champions of the four sister schools to Duel Academy. The first champion is none other than Duel Academy East's own Adrian Gecko!"

Making his way onto the stage was a young man with dark red hair that flared upwards, light colored skin, light green eyes, and large biceps. He wore glasses with golden earrings in each ear, a green cloak, two large hoop bracelets on his right arm, a set of brown prayer beads around his neck, a mostly brown with some white down the center shirt and pair of pants, and a simple deck holder on his hip. He walked calmly and confidently, like he had no worries in the world.

Once Adrian had taken his place on the stage a little ways away from Yugi, the Chancellor's voice boomed throughout the auditorium. "The next student comes to us from Duel Academy West. Give a warm welcome to their champion, Axel Brodie!"

Strutting onto the stage was a young man with light brown skin, black hair that flared out to his shoulders in length with only a set of bangs off to the side of his face, dull gold eyes, and a rather muscular physique. He wore a black vest with a red tank top under it, black gloves that had the fingers cut out of them, gold bands that nearly reached his armpits, black leather pants with a belt that had a holster attached to it. In the holster was a strange Duel Disk looking gun.

After seeing Axel had moved beside of Adrian, the Chancellor said "Our next student is from Duel Academy South, and is none other than Jim Crocodile Cook!"

Slowly making his way to the stage was a young man with black hair that stuck outwards, a dark green left eye, a set of bandages covering his right eye, and tanned skin. His clothing was that of the Outback. He wore a brown hat on his head, a white long sleeved button up shirt with a grey vest, and a black pair of pants. Oddest and scariest of all, on his back, he carried a large crocodile that had it's front arms spread out and it's hind legs tucked in. It was secured to his back with several straps and the croc seemingly sitting in a seat of some kind.

Adrian uneasily stepped a little further to the side upon seeing the croc while Axel remained calm. Taking up position beside Axel, Jim smirked a bit at the crowd.

Regaining composure after seeing the croc, Chancellor Shepherd finally said "And finally, our last champion from Duel Academy North, please welcome Jesse Anderson!"

Rushing up onto stage was a young man with blue-green hair that looked much like Jaden's hair style, bright green eyes, lightly tanned skin, and an average sized body. He wore a white long sleeved shirt with a blue vest, and black pants. His expression seemed happy, if not rather giddy.

Jesse quickly moved beside of Jim, who smirked at the young man. Nodding that the four champions were now in place, Shepherd flipped on his microphone once more.

"These are the four champions of the Duel Academy schools. Give them a welcoming round of applause!"

All of the students clapped their hands, along with many others in the crowd. Finally settling, Shepherd calmly motioned towards the group of Pro League Duelists standing beside of the stage, saying "These are the Pro League Duelists that Mr. Kaiba spoke of. They will be very much a part of this tournament. So please, do your best against them."


	5. Chapter 5: Exhibition Match

Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Well, this weekend wasn't too bad. I spent Saturday with my mate, which was fun. We went to the mall nearby, where we picked up a game and some other stuff. It was a relaxing weekend more than anything else. Sunday, I spent the afternoon with my grandmother and grandfather. Really no change in grandpa unfortunately, which kind of sucks. Still, he seems with it, which is good. I'm just glad that he's still here, although sometimes I find myself thinking of how things were, but I just remember that I'm glad he's still here, regardless of what state. Other than that, not much else is happening in my life.**

**Writing wise, I'm still working hard on **_**Another**_**, but I began putting some work into **_**MtM**_** yesterday. I'm going to work on some more of it since I'm to a part in **_**Another**_** that I can't really work on at work, hehe.**

**Last time around, Illidan and family arrived back at the island, with him making the rounds and talking with Chancellor Shepherd and Jaden. The tournament is going to start soon, and things are going to be exciting, I'm sure of it. Still, who could be attacking the students? And will Illidan, Marie, and Yugi get to the bottom of this business?**

**Alrighty, it's time once more for the reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, poor Adrian. Yes, he's awful for what he does in season 3 to that poor woman he loves/loved. Yep, the champions are all there for Kaiba's fun publicity stunt. True, it'll be interesting to see how Illidan handles himself against the new generation of students, along with Yugi and the others. And true, there are some rivalries that aren't finished yet too. Yugi and Seto, Yugi and Illidan, Illidan and Seto, and so many others! You never know what may happen. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Sorry about that. I messaged everyone on the favs list for the last story, but I forgot you use the anonymous posting. My fault on that. I'm glad though that you did return, and you're not too far behind. Glad you liked the duels thus far in this story. I think what ardee brought to this story has helped it out a great it. Yeah, I think the plot for this story will be better than season 3's plot. Lol, yes, Arya is so lovable. She's just got a bit of a problem with controlling her developing Shadow Powers, hehe. I'm glad you like this story thus far, and hope you continue to. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: LOL! The truth is about Machine Swarm and Mechanical Fusion, they're created cards by ardee. Neither have been used in the show, so nah, as far as I know, they've not been used in the Yugioh History. Heh, me using the new duelists decks should be interesting. Actually, Jesse is from the Duel Academy North and Jim is the southern one. I would have guessed both were southern, but oh well, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, the Crystal Beats (Gem Beasts) are at Duel Academy now. I bet they will be surprised to see those cards, hehe. I used the English version of what they're called. Gem is cool sounding, but I'm used to the name of Crystal. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yep, all the duelists are there, but no Viper, sad to say. Never know what I'll be up to with this plot, hehe. Me and ardee (mostly ardee) came up with an interesting storyline and plot, so no worries. I don't think anyone will be disappointed, hehe. Glad you find it interesting. It'll tie together, so no worries. Thanks for the review!**

**That's all she wrote for now. Now she must write murder! Lol, my brain must be damaged to say stuff like that. Couldn't be due that my mom dropped me on the edge of a fireplace, where my head hit, as a child? Hmm, nah, couldn't be, lol. But it's all good.**

**Thank you everyone for your reviews. I'm surprised at the responses I've gotten thus far on this story, so thanks. I only wish **_**Another**_** would do as well as this one, but that's a different genre, and different set of readers. Thank you all though for your reviews. They mean a lot.**

**Without any further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 5**

Sighing softly while walking along with Marie and pushing Arya in her stroller, Illidan lightly grumbled in his mind about recent events. "_It feels good to be back at the school, but just to know that every student here is in danger doesn't sit well with me. Since we've been back, things have been quiet. Other than the announcements about preliminary duels, things are quiet. Heh, I'm still interested to see how the exhibition match goes._"

Frowning, he growled back in his mind "_And then there are those damn Pro League Duelists. What a bunch of jerks and snobs! Do they expect us to cater to each and every single need they have! I mean, they need to take some responsibility. And then they have the gull to treat all the students except for the Obelisk Blues, with disrespect, like they're not with their time to talk to. At least I took care of that one._"

Smirking, he remembered that that one had challenged him to a duel. He had at first politely declined, saying that he was late to class. The arrogant duelists though had gone too far though, insulting him by saying Illidan was scared of losing and was a disgrace to dueling.

At that point, Illidan lost his temper and demanded that the duelist wait in that spot. Running to the Chancellor's office, he asked Shepherd himself for permission to use the Dueling Arena. The Chancellor agreed, with a smirk of bemusement on his face.

Returning to retrieve the Pro League Duelist, Illidan dragged him along to grab his class, in which he moved to the arena, and then dueled the obnoxious fool in front of them all. He made no concessions to the poor man and within fifteen minutes, he won the duel with still sixty-six hundred life points left. On his field, he had both Cyber End Dragon and Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning left before ending it.

His class had applauded his actions, while the disgruntled duelist had mumbled a word of congratulation and stomped off angrily while lowly swearing to himself.

The memory quickly faded, making Illidan lightly chuckle to himself over it. Lightly squeezing Marie's hand, he saw her look up at him and softly smile. The three were on their way to Yugi's house for dinner, which had become quite a habit as of late.

Tea had proven herself to be an excellent cook, which instantly got both Illidan and Marie coming often to their home. Yugi and Tea actually enjoyed the company, and gladly invited the pair usually nightly.

Hand in hand, while pushing Arya's stroller, the pair saw the beautiful home coming into view. Approaching it, they saw a young girl with black hair that had pink and blonde highlights, and beautiful violet eyes. She wore a simple pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt while playing in their front yard.

Upon seeing them, the girl squealed in delight and ran towards the three, calling out excitedly "Uncle Illidan! Auntie Marie! Cousin Arya!"

The two gave soft smiles to the girl as she rushed up to meet them. She exchanged hugs with each one and happily said "I'm so happy to see you!"

"We're happy to see you too Yoshi." Illidan commented.

Nodding, Yoshi then suddenly turned around and ran back to the house and opened the door, yelling "Mom, Dad, they're here!"

A very tired looking Yugi stepped out first, followed behind him by a worn out Tea. Raising his eyebrows at this, Illidan walked forward and gave Yugi a rough, one-armed hug and whispered "You look exhausted."

Yugi, in a bit of a daze, replied "Neither of us was this hyper! Where did she get it from? I don't understand!"

Hugging Tea, Marie gave her a questioning look, which was quickly answered. "It's Yoshi," Tea explained weakly. "It's like she eats raw sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"I've told you so many times Tea, if it hadn't been for that third cup of sake that night…" Yugi lightly teased, earning him a playful smack from her.

Both Illidan and Marie lightly chuckled, with Marie replying with a comforting voice "Don't worry about him Tea. He can hardly hold his liquor anyways."

The group once again had a good chuckle, with Yugi joining in on his own roasting.

--

Dinner had finally finished up, with Marie and Tea taking the dishes away. The two girls were chatting it up in the kitchen, leaving Yugi and Illidan alone to talk by themselves.

"I've compiled a list of suspects." Yugi stated. "I find Adrian Gecko very suspicious due to his family and past reports on him, but it's not possible that it's him since he only just got to the island. A large part of the list includes these Pro League Duelists, but the problem is they've only made it to the island this past week as well. I guess we have a right to suspect everyone, but I don't see why anyone on the island would have any kind of motive."

Resting back against his chair, Illidan lightly rubbed his temples and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is getting out of hand. These children have done nothing to deserve this."

"Do you want to consider the possibility that the ones who caused such a mess last year have survived?" Yugi softly asked.

Shaking his head, Illidan replied "Impossible for either. Legato was taken by the Shadows because he neglected to honor his side of the deal. Zell on the other hand was banished from Zane's body, and with no host in the area, he had to have passed on."

"In that case, it has to be someone new." he added after a moment.

Sighing, Yugi softly asked "But who?"

--

The next night, almost everyone on the island gathered together at the main dueling arena to watch the exhibition duel. With everyone packed in, Chancellor Shepherd made a motion for the commentator to start the duel.

Standing up, the man with long brown hair and a goatee moved to the middle of the dueling ring and cleared his throat. In a thick Scottish accent, he called out "STUDENTS, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE EXHIBITION MATCH OF THE GENEX TOURNAMENT!"

Most of the students had covered their ears to deafen the sound, but once the announcement had been made, the crowd roared to life of applause.

Seeing he had their attention, the man continued on and said "Now, no one knows who the two duelists are, but you're about to find out! First up, is Duel Academy's very own wonder-boy! People, I want a round of applause for the incredible, amazing, ZANE TRUESDALE!"

Every single Duel Academy Student and Teacher went crazy and cheered the young man approaching the stage. He had green mid-back length hair with matching green eyes. His attire consisted of a white and red coat with long red coat tails and black matching pants. His eyes were bloodshot, showing his visible lack of sleep, along with the dark circles under his eyes. Taking the stage, he moved to one side of the field in front of the announcer.

Noting Zane looked exhausted, Illidan mumbled lowly to Marie "He's been out every night searching for Syrus from what I understand since he vanished."

"Poor Zane…" Marie sympathetically whispered. "He blames himself over not being able to find his brother I bet."

The pair's conversation was soon cut short by the announcer calling out "As for his opponent, please welcome someone from my own home land, the SCOTTISH NATIONAL CHAMPION, DARREN HIRUGASHI!"

A great deal of the female audience members instantly swooned at the young man approaching the dueling ring. He was about six foot two, and very well built. He wore a black trench coat that fanned out rather far. His hair was jet-black, and he wore sunglasses, obscuring his green eyes. He grinned at the crowed, revealing gleaming white teeth, instantly making most of the girls in the audience swoon once more.

Zane rolled his eyes with irritation at the attention that Darren was receiving. Finally closing the gap between the two till they were both in position beside of the announcer, Darren scoffed at Zane and pointed at his coat tails, mouthing "Mine are bigger than yours."

Not entertained, Zane coldly said "We'll see if you can duel as well as you can talk."

Noting the tension, the announcer chuckled nervously and said "Now, now, gentlemen, let's not get nasty… At least not yet."

Making a motion for the two to come forward, the announcer declared "Duelists, shake hands!"

Darren shrugged and extended his right hand while walking forward. Zane did the same and the two shook.

Moving off the stage, the announcer called out "Shuffle your decks and move into position. Once done, draw your first five cards. Mr. Hirugashi will lead off."

Obeying the announcer, the two made their way to their positions. Finally in them, each shuffled their decks and stuck them into their Duel Disks. Instantly, each Duel Disk powered up and activated. Drawing their five cards, both called out at once "LET'S DUEL!"

Drawing his sixth card, Darren smirked and boasted "You will have the honor of feeling my power in this duel. I summon Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/700) in attack mode."

A thin man appeared, dressed in gray armor and a blue cape coming down to his ankles. The man glared at Zane, and drew an axe out from his cape.

Picking a card from his hand, Darren showed it to Zane and called out "I play the spell Quick Summon, giving me an opportunity to summon another monster. Please welcome Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800/1200)!"

A man in slender, pale blue armor instantly materialized onto the field beside of the man in gray armor. He carried a silver sword and his chest plate was decorated with a silver crest.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." (Darren 8000, Zane 8000)

With no emotion on his face, Zane drew his new card and stoically said "I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

Rising up onto the field was a metal snake like dragon that let out a soft mechanical roar upon settling.

"Next I'd like you to meet my Mechanical Chaser (1850/1800)!"

A circular, metal hunter like robot that floated in the air instantly appeared. In two thin arms it held two swords, and a spear extended from the bottom of its body.

Pointing at Darren's field, Zane nonchalantly said "Time to begin! Cyber Dragon, destroy his Lightning Prince with Strident Blaze!"

The mechanical dragon let out low mechanical growl and opened it's jaws, allowing white energy to lick the outside of it's mouth. In a blaze, the dragon fired a stream of white energy and struck the monster in grey armor, incinerating it easily.

"How very lovely." Darren smugly said.

Snarling in anger, Zane glared at Darren. With all the stress he had been going through with Syrus's disappearance, he was bound and determined to release his anger and rage within the duel.

"Mechanical Chaser, tear his Tourken apart with Machine Hunter!"

The monster buzzed to life and rushed forward, its swords spinning. The weaker warrior in pale blue armor was easily sliced into ribbons before shattering.

"Well, that battle may have helped you, but it helped me more." Darren boasted. "You see, when Tourken is destroyed in battle, I get to draw two cards."

Zane raised an eyebrow as the Scottish National Champion snapped the next two cards of his deck. Smirking at Zane's small confusion, Darren added "Inazu's effect is next, which states that if there are two 'Monarchs' or 'Princes' in my Graveyard, and any of the cards I drew were 'Monarchs', I can special summon them immediately and activate their effect. Welcome Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000)!"

Materializing onto the field was a new figure in thick white armor. He wasn't very tall, but each section of his body was rather large. Extending from his back was a rack of spines that crackled with electricity. As he landed on the field, the spines on his back began to vibrate with an unusual amount of power. He let lose a roar, and fired a blast of electricity in the machine dragon's direction. The bolts of electricity struck the dragon, making it howl in pain before exploding.

"You see," Darren chuckled, "when Zaborg is summoned, I can destroy a monster on the field. But as I said, when he's special summoned by Tourken's effect, I can destroy your monster anyway with his effect!"

Grumbling lightly at this, Zane grabbed a card from his hand and placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I activate the spell Different Dimension Capsule. With this, I can take a card from my deck and remove it from play. In two of my Standby Phases, I'm allowed to add the card to my hand."

Pulling his deck out, he fanned it out and finally selected a card and placed it within his removed from play slot. Instantly, a strange capsule like tomb slowly rose up from the ground in front of Zane. A card image facing Zane slowly lowered into the capsule, which then sank into the ground. Placing his deck back, he calmly said "In two turns, that card is mine. In the meantime, I set one card and end my turn." (Darren 6850, Zane 8000)

Sneering, Darren drew his card and smirked at it. "You may regret accepting this duel soon enough Zane. I play the spell Premature Burial, allowing me to give up 800 life points, but this is for a good cause. Now I can resurrect my Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800/1200)!"

A dark red aura instantly surrounded Darren for a moment, seemingly taking a bit of his energy. Once his life points had dropped a bit, the slender man in pale blue armor reappeared onto the field.

"Next, I sacrifice him in order to summon his father, the mighty Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000)!"

With the slender man vanishing from the field in a flash of light, a new warrior in full body armor that was light blue, with a flowing blue cape and cold wisps of smoke coming off his body materialized onto the field.

"Thanks to Mobius being tribute summoned, I can destroy two spell/trap cards on the field." Darren calmly stated. With a smirk, he cockily called out "Wouldn't you know it, you have exactly two, so they're gone!"

Pointing at the two cards on Zane's field, the warrior in light blue armor shot a beam of ice straight at the capsule card first, shattering it. Retargeting the other card, the warrior shot another beam of ice, blowing away the face down card.

Lowly growling, Zane muttered "Call of the Haunted…"

Sneering at his handiwork, Darren teasingly asked "Sad due that I took out your cards? Don't be Zane, for you won't suffer long in this duel, and it's all thanks to this card!"

Grabbing the card out of his hand, he turned his Duel Disk vertical and tapped the end of it. Placing the card within the slot that shot out, Darren called out "I play the field spell Monarch's Throne Room!"

Immediately the field began changing into an ancient castle's throne room, with a throne sitting behind Darren, making him smirk. The two warriors each began to glow with a white aura, making each clench their fists a bit.

"As long as Monarch's Throne Room is in play, all of my 'Monarchs' and 'Princes' gain 500 additional attack points (2400 + 500 2900/1000) (2400 + 500 2900/1000). Also, once per a turn, instead of entering my Draw Phase, I can add a card from my deck to my hand with the word 'Monarch' or 'Prince' in it's name."

Noting the death glare and growl coming from Zane, Darren smirked and called out "Hey Zane, I got something for you to chew on right here! It's Zaborg's fist, so go attack Mechanical Chaser with Primary Lightning!"

Turning it's palm towards the weaker machine monster, the white armored warrior shot a blast of yellow lightning straight for it. The bolt made the machine creature beep loudly before exploding, sending debris everywhere.

"So much for that junk heaper." Darren smugly remarked. "Mobius, direct attack with Ice Shard Storm!"

Pointing it's palm at Zane, the light blue armored warrior shot a blast of frigid, ice filled air at him. Zane lightly cringed at the blast, but remained standing.

Smirking at his handiwork, Darren coolly said "I end my turn with a face down." (Darren 6050, Zane 4050)

"Poor Zane." a young woman with sandy blonde hair that reached her mid-back said. She had light brown eyes, but wore a concerned face. Her uniform was a mostly white with blue blouse and a blue skirt.

Nodding in agreement, Jaden added "I know Alexis. He's just got to get his game on and quit worrying about Syrus. Then again, with Sy still missing, I'm sure he can't focus on anything at all."

"General Truesdale needs to buck up and win this one." a young man with tanned skin, six black dread locks of hair sticking out from underneath a yellow bandana that turned brown towards the very front, which had a set of red eyes and a pair of nostrils, and finally some dinosaur like teeth hanging from the rim. He was muscular, having well formed biceps, which were well displayed by the fact that the sleeves of his yellow jacket were cut off. He wore a large tooth necklace around his neck, brown pants, and a green undershirt.

A young man next to the youth in yellow that had black hair, which flared up in the front a bit, and had gray eyes frowned. He wore a black trench coat with a violet colored undershirt and black pants. In an irritable voice, he said "Hasselberry is right, for once. If Zane hopes to win this duel, he needs to quit worrying about that dork for once and fight hard."

"Chazz is right, Zane needs to put Syrus out of his mind just for this duel." a young girl said. She had emerald eyes and long straight black hair that came down to her mid-back and wore a yellow girl's uniform.

Heavily sighing, Alexis mumbled "If only he could Mariah. I'd give anything to see him smile again."

"I think we all would Lex." Jaden warmly replied while taking her hand into his.

On the field, Zane drew his card and smirked when an image of the tomb like capsule reappeared onto his field. From it, a card came out before the remainder of the capsule shattered.

"Wait one minute! I destroyed Different Dimension Capsule last turn with Mobius's effect, so no way that thing could activate now! Even if it had survived, it shouldn't activate for two of your Standby Phases!" Darren protested.

Chuckling, Zane calmly said "You're a fool to think I wouldn't play a bit of strategy. I removed from play my last turn the spell card known as Card from a Different Dimension. One turn after being removed from play, it returns to my hand and allows us both to draw two cards."

Picking up two cards each, both added the cards to their hands, with Darren exhibiting a sour look on his face. Smirking at it, Zane calmly placed a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and said "I play the spell Future Fusion, allowing me to send some monsters from my deck to my Graveyard that create a Fusion Type monster. I send my two remaining Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) and one The Light – Hex – Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to the Graveyard, allowing me to fuse Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)! In two of my Standby Phases, this powerful dragon will take the field by storm!"

Softly growling with irritation, Darren snapped back with "That's two turns away, which you won't have!"

"We'll see." Zane smugly remarked. "In the meantime, I activate the spell Power Bond, allowing me to fuse together my two Proto-Cyber Dragons (1100/600) in my hand to create Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!"

Appearing onto the field was a pair of unfinished mechanical snake like dragon with dull grey metal and wires hanging out of their bodies. Each let out a soft mechanical roar before swirling together into a blinding light. As the light died, a new dragon with twin heads and necks connected to a large midsection with a large tail appeared in their place. The twin heads each let out a loud machine roar, seemingly trying to instill fear to other monsters.

"Those scrap heaps can't beat my two Monarchs." Darren boasted.

"True, normally Cyber Twin Dragon couldn't now, but with Power Bond's effect, Cyber Twin Dragon's attack points are doubled (2800 2 5600/2100)!"

Glowing instantly, the twin dragons let out a roar while their bodies absorbed a greater amount of energy.

Pointing towards the two monsters on Darren's field, Zane called out "Thanks to Cyber Twin Dragon's effect, it can attack twice a round. Go, destroy his two monsters with Double Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a loud mechanical roar, the two heads of the dragon opened each of their jaws and shot out a beam of light blue energy. Each head struck at their targets, easily destroying both warriors on the field with their attacks, making Darren cover his face for a moment from the explosions.

Satisfied with the damage, Zane quietly placed a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and said "Since I used Power Bond, it's effect kicks in, stripping me of 2800 of my life points, which is equal to the original attack of Cyber Twin Dragon."

With that said, a red glow surrounded Zane's body, making him lightly cringe. Once the glow vanished, he said "I end." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)

Preparing to draw a card, Darren stopped and smirked. "I play Monarch's Throne Room's effect instead of drawing. Now I can transfer this, the monster known as Raiza the Storm Monarch!"

Digging through his deck, Darren found the monster card he wanted and placed it into his left hand. Finished, he shuffled his deck and put it back. "Next, I play Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800 + 500 2300/1200) once more!"

Reappearing onto the field was the slender man in light blue armor.

"He's not staying long though, for I sacrifice him to summon Raiza the Storm Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000)!"

With the light blue armored warrior vanishing, a gust of wind blue up and from it came a warrior in full body light green armor with a dark green cape.

"When I tribute summon Raiza, his effect kicks in, allowing me to send a card on your field back to the top of your deck. Say farewell to your dragon and your life points!" Darren declared.

The green armored warrior pointed both palms at the machine dragon, causing a fierce wind to begin kicking up around it. Slowly, the dragon began to rise up off of the ground, but it thrashed about, trying hard to remain on the ground.

Smirking, Zane calmly said "I figured you'd try to do something with my dragon, that's why I set this. Go De-Fusion! With this spell, I can split my Cyber Twin Dragon back into the two original Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), each in defense."

Glowing lightly, the twin headed machine dragon transformed into to beams of light. The twin beams struck the field, revealing two snake like machine dragons, each coiled up.

Growling with frustration, Darren pointed at one of the dragons and yelled out "Obliterate one of those dragons Raiza with Wind Cyclone!"

Pointing a palm at one of the two machine dragons, the green armored warrior fired a twister of wind straight at the dragon. The wind struck the dragon hard, making it roar out in pain before shattering.

Satisfied with his work, Darren grumpily said "I end my turn." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)

Picking up a card, Zane examined it before placing it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I place this down and end." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)

"Come on Zane, you can do this." Alexis mumbled softly.

Noting her anxiety, Jaden lightly squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that Zane could win. Looking back down, he smirked at the thought of Zane winning. "_He can do this, I know it._"

Not much further down from the pair, Illidan and Marie watched their friend and coworker seemingly on the verge of winning.

"He's close, I know it." Marie softly said.

Nodding, Illidan replied "Yes, he is, but he needs to keep calm. So long as Zane doesn't let Darren get into his head, he should be able to survive this turn, and then on his next turn summon Cyber End Dragon and win this duel."

"I just hope he can hold it together." Marie faintly whispered.

On the field, Darren smirked and drew his card and asked "Whatever happened to the Zane Truesdale that I once heard of? The one that everyone feared would enter the Pro Dueling League and take it by storm?"

"He's still standing here." Zane calmly remarked.

"Really?" Darren pushed. "You seem distant from where I stand. It's like your mind is elsewhere. Perhaps you're still distraught over the fact that you have to face me in this exhibition match for this tournament?"

"You know nothing of what is on my mind." Zane coldly replied.

Sneering, Darren asked "Then what's wrong? Problems with you family? Friends? Someone you love? Stop me if I guess it."

"JUST SHUT UP AND MAKE YOUR MOVE!" Zane snarled, anger easily seen on his normally calm and serene face.

Darkly chuckling, Darren questioned "What's wrong, do you have somewhere to be or something better to do? I'm offended by that Zane."

"Finish your move and shut your mouth already!" Zane roared while anger radiated off of him in waves.

Shrugging, Darren finally said "Very well, I play Pot of Greed! This spell let's me pick up two more cards."

Grabbing two cards, he examined them before saying "I activate the spell Rightful Throne, which lets me resurrect my Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000) for this turn only. His effect is triggered, but his attack points are halved (2400 / 2 1200 + 500 1700/1000)."

Rising up onto the field once more was the light blue armored warrior with a blue cape on his back.

"Say farewell to whatever card you were planning on using to save yourself! Do it Mobius!"

Pointing a finger at the face down card on Zane's field, the light blue armored warrior fired a beam of ice at it from his finger.

With only a moment to spare before the ice beam hit it, Zane pointed at the card and called out "I play the trap Attack Reflector Unit, which has me sacrifice my Cyber Dragon in order to special summon from my deck Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800)!"

Vanishing from the field instantly was the lone machine dragon. Replacing it quickly was a new machine snake like dragon with a hood surrounding it's head that had four spikes sticking out in diagonal directions, several rectangular panels sticking out in four directions running up and down it's body, and a streak of pink on it's nose and hood. The dragon let out a soft screech, asserting itself promptly onto the field.

Grunting with irritation, Darren sneered and said "That thing is just plain pitiful Zane. Why bother placing it in attack mode?"

"You'll see." Zane coolly remarked.

Growling at Zane's returning calmness, Darren yelled "Don't mess with me! Destroy his pathetic dragon now Raiza!"

Turning his palm towards the weaker machine dragon, the green armored warrior shot a twister straight for it. The dragon only stayed in position, seemingly uninterested in the attack.

"You're about to find out why I summoned that monster Darren." Zane calmly said. "Cyber Barrier Dragon, I activate your special ability. Go Sonic Shield!"

The four prongs on the dragon's hood suddenly reacted and extended out and lengthened back towards the green armored warrior. With a ear shattering screech, the dragon sucked it's head back into the hood and formed a golden barrier. The wind attack heading for the dragon struck the barrier and finally fizzled out.

"Why didn't my attack go through!?" Darren roared with anger.

Smirking, Zane calmly said "Very simple. My Cyber Barrier Dragon can negate one attack per a turn. Too bad, and you nearly had me there."

Grinding his teeth roughly, Darren yelled "Destroy his pathetic dragon now Mobius!"

Turning his palm to the dragon, the light blue armored warrior shot a blast of ice filled wind at the machine dragon. This time the blast scored a hit on it, making the dragon howl in pain and explode. Zane covered his face to protect him from the debris and smoke, but lightly coughed due that he didn't stop all of it.

"I'll place this face down." Darren gruffly said while jamming a card into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I end my turn, meaning Mobius goes back to my Graveyard."

With those words said, the light blue armored warrior turned to dust and vanished from the field. (Darren 650, Zane 350)

Quietly picking up his card, Zane examined it and calmly said "It's over for you Darren. I activate Future Fusion's effect! It's been two Standby Phases since I played it, so now I may bring out my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a large snake like machine dragon with three heads, a set of large metallic wings, and a single tail. The dragon let out a massive roar, shaking the dueling ring to it's foundation.

"Game over Darren." Zane coolly said. Swinging his arm to point at the remaining warrior on the field, Zane called out "Cyber End Dragon, finish this with Super Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dragon's heads took aim and launched a blast of blinding white energy each. The three beams combined and headed straight for the light green armored warrior, who only looked at the oncoming blast.

Growling lowly, Darren pointed to his face down and said "I maybe losing this duel, but I'm taking you with me! I play the trap Monarch's Downfall! With this, we each take the Battle Damage that would result in our monsters battle. That means we each lose 1100 points!"

Without warning, the blast struck the green armored warrior, shattering him while part of the blast suddenly reversed course and struck Zane while the rest struck Darren. Each fell to one knee while their Duel Disks powered down.

In somewhat of a shock, the announcer slowly said "It's a draw… The duel is officially a draw!"

The crowd all cheered for the result, although many were shocked and surprised at the end of it. Still, all stood up and applauded both duelists for their contest.

Standing, Zane looked over to see a fuming Darren. "_I underestimated him. He's far better a duelist than I thought he was._"

Glaring in Zane's direction, Darren stood up and stomped off the stage, leaving Zane alone. Deciding not to stay, Zane walked off as well, with all surprised he didn't stay.

--

A day after Zane and Darren's duel, the Genex Tournament officially began. With classes cancelled, students could duel daily and constantly. The rules were simple to reach the official ranks for the tournament. They just had to win six duels against six different people. Do that and you were admitted to the tournaments rankings.

After a week, the tournament finally got down to sixty four competitors. Within two days, the field was narrowed down to sixteen. This field of duelists was in what was to be known as the Sweet Sixteen Duels.

The Sweet Sixteen Duels were intense from the beginning with Yugi Moto, who normally had it easy during the preliminary tournaments, found himself in a difficult duel. He was pitted up against Jesse Anderson, and narrowly won with Dark Paladin. With his win, he was said to be the favorite to win the Genex Tournament.

Joey Wheeler had gone up against Jaden Yuki next, making it a clash of the old style warriors against the new style Elemental Heroes. The battle was close to the very end with Joey saving himself barely by playing his Gilford the Lightning. This destroyed Jaden's strongest monsters, Elemental Hero Electrum and Elemental Hero Magma Neos, leaving him defenseless and easy pickings for Joey.

Seto Kaiba had his duel in firm hand till near the end of it with Darren Hirugashi. The Pro League Duelist had used his monarchs rather well and managed to destroy all three of Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons, and reduce his points to five hundred. Eventually, the slick CEO used Ring of Destruction on Raiza the Storm Monarch, and combined it with Barrel Behind the Door to win the close duel.

Illidan had faced off with Adrian Gecko, with the champion of the Eastern Branch of Duel Academy proving to be no pushover with his deadly Cloudian monsters. Eventually, Illidan used his field spell, Chaos Control, to summon up all three of his Chaos monsters to win the duel.

Zane Truesdale gave Chazz Princeton the thrashing of a lifetime in their duel. Zane showed no mercy, easily overwhelming Chazz's Armed Dragons and Ojamas. In the end, the duel ended with a brutal attack from Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon, combined with Limiter Removal.

Kevin Hunter, a new, but young Pro League Duelist, proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with in his duel. He used a Dragon deck and demonstrated the full power of his wyverns while dueling the champion of the Western Branch of Duel Academy, Axel Brodie. Axel was armed with a Pyro deck and came close to winning with his powerful Volcanic Devil, only to fall short to Kevin's powered-up Tyrant Dragon.

Marie's duel was a hard fought battle against Mariah's Gravekeeper's. The two held nothing back from one another, with Mariah locking down both of their Graveyards early on with her Necrovalley. In the end, Marie made a miraculous comeback with her Archlord Zerato and narrowly won.

In the final battle, Mai Valentine Wheeler faced Ryou Bakura. The duel was arguably the most intense, as the two had a history of rivalry, considering their duel in the Tournament of Power. Bakura had summoned a Gren Maju Den Eiza with over four thousand attack points, but Mai had finally defeated him by weakening it with Mirror Wall, and finishing the duel with her Cyber Harpie Lady.

With the Sweet Sixteen Duels over, the crowd and duelists celebrated the days duels while some left for solitude.


	6. Chapter 6: Danger Revealed

Chapter 6

**Hello everyone! Well, this week has been quiet since last time. My mate received a table that my step mom promised her yesterday, which made her happy… She got it so if we have company, we can go outside and sit at it. I simply commented that we never entertain people at our home, so why have the table? Lol, naturally, she said we could have people over, someday. I kind of just gave up on that discussion, knowing better to just shut up.**

**Writing wise, I'm getting a bit done on **_**MtM**_**, along with **_**Another**_**. Things are moving nicely for each, which is always a plus. The length of this story is up in the air, but it will be long enough I think. After all, me and ardee have made the chapters 5k or more in length always, so it is long in some ways.**

**Last time, Zane faced off with the Scottish National Champion, Darren. Darren seemed more than capable in using his Monarch Deck, giving Zane a run for his money and in the end, tying with the teacher. The question now is that the Sweet Sixteen duels are over, who will come out the tournament winner?**

**And now, it's time once more for the reviews! (/Cranks up some Death Note theme music for it.\) I know, strange…**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yeah, poor Zane had it rough, but not too rough. Obviously, he doesn't let his tired state affect his dueling performance. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks. You are absolutely correct about Proto-Cyber Dragon's effect. It is treated as Cyber Dragon only when it is on the field, so the move I had Zane commit was illegal. I know, silly, lol. I was waiting for someone to catch that move actually. I had wrote that part up a while back and not noticed it till Tuesday when I was proofreading the chapter before I posted it. I had wrote that part back some time ago when I thought that the effect treated the Proto-Cyber Dragon always as Cyber Dragon. It was my mistake, and I just didn't fix it. Heh, I gave the rules a small tweak for it, hehe. But good catch, and I thank you for finding it. Yes, Bakura lost to Mai once more. Poor Bakura, he never seems to win, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Yep, he has done used Chaos Control. I'm sure the duel was tough enough to the point he needed to use that card. Glad you liked the duel between Zane and Darren. Yeah, it ended in a draw, mostly showing that Darren is stronger than most thought. True, Zane didn't lose any pride, nor did Darren lose any face, but he didn't prove himself either. Yep, the tournament should be fun, hehe. Thanks for the review.**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks, and glad you liked the duel. Confused already are you? Patience young one, for the path to the dark side if full of questions. LOL! Sorry, couldn't resist trying to play Yoda, hehe. Been playing too much Star Wars Battlefront 2 with my mate lately, and he's on my mind (I got to play as him, making my mate jealous, lol). At any rate, yes, the final eight is set, but that doesn't mean things are over yet. There is more than meets the eye. (/Hears a transforming sound and Optimus Prime yelling "Roll out!"\) Yeah, I need mental help I think… But true, plots are sometimes meant to be confusing. I hope you like what is coming up. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Heh, that's Darren for you, he's just cocky and obnoxious as always. Glad you liked the Ring of Destruction and Barrel Behind the Door combo. I think you'll like what happens next. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you everyone for sending in your reviews. I really do enjoy getting to answer them. And I really liked the responses I got for this chapter. Also, I'm glad when people catch my small mistakes I make in duels. I sometimes just don't realize what I've done till after I've posted, or I proofread the chapter before posting. Lol, sometimes I fix my mistakes, other times I just watch to see if anyone wishes to point them out, which is cool that people catch them. At any rate, I thank you all for your support. If anyone who hasn't posted a review yet wishes to ask a question or comment on the chapter, please, I do ask that you do. I would be more than happy to answer anything that doesn't give away the plot.**

**Btw, I should mention this. The character Darren was brought over from ardee, who did a great job with him. I really kind of like this character. So, special thanks to ardee for him.**

**Anyways, I think my work is done here for today. I hope you all like this chapter. I shall once more return on Tuesday, so till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 6**

Not disappointed by her defeat in the Sweet Sixteen Duels, but sad at the same time due that she wasn't going to have a chance any longer to win the Genex Tournament, Mariah quietly walked alone towards the lake near the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm. Ever since the previous year, she had enjoyed strolls by the specific lake, which gave her an opportunity to glance towards the Obelisk Dorm itself, which seemed to always cheer her up regardless.

Her dream, which she had not shared with anyone, was to eventually become an Obelisk Blue Member, but till then, she was quite satisfied with being a Ra Yellow. Even though she had been lumped in with the Slifer Red Students the year before due that she was the youngest student the school had ever had, she hadn't minded. In only a year, her brilliant mind had easily gotten her promoted into the Ra Dorm, and the way things were going, she could achieve her goal before the end of her second year possibly, if not the beginning of her third.

Still, she that didn't mean she hated the Ra Dorm. She lightly chuckled at herself over her silly crush on a certain grey haired student in the Ra Dorm, but realized a dream of him and her getting together was pretty farfetched.

"_I'm just a kid..._" she sadly mused to herself.

Suddenly, she heard a small scream and went running in the direction of it. Without even realizing it, she was within the woods and out of sight of the dorms. She quickly found the source of the scream in the form of her roommate, Hinata. The girl was on her knees, panting heavily on the ground, with a man nearby.

The man had a Mohawk like haircut, a hard stone set face, large muscular biceps, and wore a black uniform that looked similar to the Duel Academy Blue uniforms, with the exception of two large dull grey metal shoulder pads that came over his chest that had a red and blue light on each side, with what looked like metal fangs protruding. On the man's belt was a Duel Disk that was centered in front of him.

Both the man and Hinata had apparently been dueling, and from what Mariah could tell, they were in some kind of Shadow Game.

"You lose girly." he arrogantly stated with a sneer.

Upon those words being said, Hinata's body began glowing with a bright orange glow, causing the girl to scream out in more pain. The glow shot out a stream of energy that shot into the air, into what looked like a blue shimmering portal overhead. With the energy gone, Hinata collapsed to the ground and passed out.

"Your energy was rather pathetic, but it shall do." he grumbled and began walking away.

Growling lowly, Mariah came out of her hiding place and yelled "Hey big shot, how about picking on someone your own size!"

Turning to see Mariah standing there, the man darkly chuckled. "Are you suggesting you will take me on?" he boasted.

"What, afraid of a kid?" Mariah shot back hotly.

Sneering, the man took his deck out and shuffled it. "I'll gladly take you on little girl. Your energy might be more like what I need. I can sense the Shadow Powers within you that are restless."

Shuffling her own deck, Mariah stuck it into it's slot on her Duel Disk. Noting the man took up his position, she quickly checked on Hinata. Checking with her Shadow Powers, Mariah let out a relieved sigh when she found Hinata had her soul still, but was just drained of her energy.

"_Thank goodness._" she mumbled in her mind. Glaring up at the man, she snarled in her mind "_He'll pay for doing this to you Hinata. I swear it!_"

Taking up a position in order to face the man, Mariah asked "Who are you, and why are you attacking the students?"

"I am not at liberty to say, but for now, call me Viper." the man smoothly said.

"Whatever." Mariah snapped back. "I'll make sure this is the last time you do that to a person."

"Bold words for such a runt." Viper teased.

Smirking, Mariah fired back "You won't be so bold once I take you down a few pegs!"

Activating their Duel Disks simultaneously, each drew five cards and shouted out "Game on!"

Picking up her sixth card, Mariah calmly said "I'll begin this little duel. I set a monster and once card face down. Let's see what you have big man." (Mariah 8000, Viper 8000)

Drawing his sixth card, Viper calmly set it into his left hand and said "You are a brave one, I shall give you that. Now then, this duel is much more than it looks. We are going to play a little Shadow Game!"

Without warning, the field darkened around the two till a small dome of dark energy surrounded the pair.

"This isn't a real Shadow Game." Mariah stated while examining the field. "If it was, it would feel much different, thus making me deduce that you don't want my soul."

"Very clever little girl." Viper smugly remarked. "This game is for your Duel Energy, and once it is over, it will be mine. Your memories will also be erased of this duel, as if it didn't happen."

Lightly growling, Mariah heatedly fired back "I won't lose!"

"We'll see soon enough, won't we?" Viper mocked. "I set a monster and end my turn." (Mariah 8000, Viper 8000)

Grabbing a new card, Mariah smirked and said "Bad move there. You should have gotten ready for me, because you'll pay for your carelessness. I flip my face down monster up, Gravekeeper's Spy (1200/2000)!"

The horizontal monster card instantly turned vertical and then rose up, revealing a monster card image. From the image, a man in black robes with a black turban that had tanned skin appeared. His robe had a few designs etched into it that mostly looked like upside down cursive L's on each side of it.

"With Gravekeeper's Spy flip summoned, I can activate his special ability. Now I'm allowed to special summon another 'Gravekeeper' from my deck to the field, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points. My choice is this, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1000)!"

Searching her deck quickly, Mariah slapped the monster card to her Duel Disk. Immediately, a man with a set of black robes that had a green seam going down where the robe joined together, tanned skin, and a golden spear with a silver spear head appeared onto the field. He instantly brandished the spear towards Viper, seemingly threatening to do battle with him.

"Next up, I play my trap, Level Conversion Lab! With this, I'm forced to show you one monster from my hand. The one I'm showing you is this, Gravekeeper's Chief. Now then, I roll a die. If the result of the die is one, my monster goes to my Graveyard, but if it's anything else, that is my monster's new level! Let's find out what my monster's level will be!"

A die instantly appeared on the field and began rolling around. After nearly a minute, it finally came to rest on a three, making Mariah grin great big.

"It's a three, meaning Gravekeeper's Chief is a level three monster! Now I summon him to the field, so rise up Gravekeeper's Chief (1900/1200)!"

A man in white and black robes with a blue undershirt, a red sash belt, grey pants, with a black turban like hat appeared onto the field. His skin was tanned and he had a goatee. In his right hand was a golden staff with a cobra head on it.

"Finally, I activate the spell Quick Summon! This allows me to summon one more monster, and I choose my Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500/1500)!"

Materializing instantly onto the field was a black robed figure that had a woman's form. Her head was covered by a hood so that only her eyes were revealed and in her right hand was a curved dagger.

"Now then, I activate the special ability of Gravekeeper's Commandment (1500/1500). I discard him to my Graveyard in order to bring the card known as Necrovalley into my hand."

Placing the monster card into her Graveyard Slot, Mariah watched the card be sucked down into her Graveyard. Once in, she pulled her deck out and searched through it till she finally found her card. Placing it in her hand, she lightly smirked.

"Alright, I activate the field spell Necrovalley!"

Holding her Duel Disk vertical, she tapped the end of her Duel Disk, causing a slot to shoot out. Placing the card within the slot, the Duel Disk instantly glowed. Immediately, the field began transforming into a valley with a setting sun at the end of it. Two rock walls made up the sides of the valley, with the bottom being made up of sand.

"Here, all Gravekeeper monsters gain 500 points (1200 + 500 1700/2000 + 500 2500) (1500 + 500 2000/1000 + 500 1500) (1900 + 500 2400/1200 + 500 1700) (1500 + 500 2000/1500 + 500 2000). Also, so long as my field spell is in play, no spell, trap, or monster effects that affect anything within our Graveyards is negated. Of course, with my Gravekeeper's Chief in play, I can target my Graveyard once more, but you can't target your own or mine."

Smirking a bit, she added "Time to level the field. Go Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, strike his monster with Grave Spear Srike!"

Leaping forward into action, the man with a spear drove his spear straight into the horizontal monster card image, shattering it and revealing a blue vase with orange spots and a single orange stripe near the top materialized onto the field. Without warning, a green cobra with a yellow underbelly slid out of the top of the jar with it's tongue flicking in and out.

Smirking, Viper calmly said "You just flipped up my Cobra Jar (600/300), which has a very sinister effect. Now that he was flipped up, I can special summon a Poisonous Snake Token (1200/1200) to the field, in which I place it in defense."

Appearing onto the field in a coiled up position was a green snake that looked like a cobra. It hissed lightly, as if showing it was a bit dangerous.

"That won't stop my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier! Oh yeah, and before I forget, he has a special effect of his own! When he battles a monster in defense, he deals you damage equal to the difference in his attack points and your monster's defense points! In other words, you receive Trample damage!" Mariah exclaimed.

With ease, the robed warrior drove his spear through the green snake that hissed at him within the pot. The pot and snake all shattered, allowing the soldier to slash Viper across the chest with his spear, leaving a bloody slash mark that went straight through his clothing.

"You'll regret playing a Shadow Game with me. My family has always had strong Shadow Powers, so I know how it is to play one, while you seem to barely grasp the reality of this situation. Gravekeeper's Assailant, attack that token with Assailant Slash!"

Racing forward across the field, the female warrior instantly vanished into thin air, only to reappear right behind the snake creature.

"Oh yeah, I should let you know, my monster has a special ability also. When she attacks a monster, I can switch the mode of the monster she's attacking. With that said, I switch your token into attack mode, making it easy folly for Gravekeeper's Assailant!"

Viper could only lightly gasp in shock when his snake creature uncoiled itself. The dagger the female monster held instantly lengthened into a long sword. She instantly smirked underneath of her hood and slashed the snake in half, making it explode immediately.

Sneering at this, Viper called out "You may have destroyed my token, but it has a very deadly effect. Now it deals you 500 points of direct damage!"

Coming from the explosion instantly was the head half of the green snake that had just been slashed. Rushing forward, it sank it's fangs into Mariah's right leg, making her scream out in pain. The snake soon vanished, but the fang marks revealed a small bit of blood dripping out of the wound.

"You'll pay for that." Mariah coldly stated. "Gravekeeper's Spy and Gravekeeper's Chief, direct attack with Spy Shot and Chief's Judgment!"

The black robed weaker man instantly pulled a telescope out of his robe and glanced down it at Viper. The end of the telescope instantly began gathering energy and finally fired a blast of dark red energy. The blast struck Viper head on, making him howl in pain. Unwilling to let that be all the pain he felt, the black and white robed main turned his right palm towards Viper and fired a blast of dark red energy as well. The blast struck Viper hard again, making him cringe in pain.

"I place one card face down and end my turn. You're finished next turn Viper." Mariah stated. (Mariah 7500, Viper 1400)

Bursting out loud laughing, Viper drew his next card. Shocked at his behavior, Mariah asked "What's so funny? You're about to lose, yet you laugh?"

"You are a fool girl. This duel has all been too easy for me. Watch as I reveal your demise!" Viper remarked. "I play the spell Snake Rain! With this, I must discard one card from my hand, so I pick my Sinister Serpent."

Placing the monster card into his Graveyard Slot, Viper grinned evilly and said "With that in my Graveyard, I can now use Snake Rain's effect. I am allowed to toss out four Reptile Type monsters from my deck to my Graveyard."

Pulling his deck out, Viper examined it for a moment before picking four cards. Placing his deck back into it's slot, he showed Mariah the four cards. "The four I pick are these, Venom Cobra, Venom Snake, Venom Serpent, and Venom Boa. All four now go to my Grave."

One by one, the four cards were sucked into his Graveyard Slot, making Mariah frown deeply at his actions. "_Why toss out four monsters? It makes no sense. Not like he can use anything to bring them back, so why dump them?_"

Interrupting her thoughts, Viper called out "Next I play the spell Painful Choice! With this, I select five cards from my deck. You then get to select one of them for me to keep."

Once more pulling his deck out, Viper fanned it out and selected five cards. Upon picking them, he slapped them all onto his Duel Disk, revealing them to Mariah while he placed his deck back into it's slot.

Examining the five cards, Mariah frowned once more. "_Four of those cards are the same four he sent to his Graveyard with his Snake Rain. Why send another four? And the last card is a spell. I don't think it'll help him, but I'm unsure... I'll pick it and hope for the best._"

"I pick your Venom Shot spell card." Mariah coolly said.

Smirking great big, Viper nodded and picked up the four remaining cards and slid them into his Graveyard Slot. Placing the other card into his hand, he confidently said "Nice choice. Now then, I activate Graceful Charity! This spell let's me draw three cards, but I must toss out two when I'm done."

Grabbing three new cards, Viper examined them for a moment before picking out two and saying "I toss out these two, my Venom Serpent and Venom Snake."

Brow furrowing once more, Mariah pondered on Viper's strategy. "_He keeps tossing out good monsters, but why? None of them can help him as long as my Necrovalley is in effect... So why go to all the trouble of tossing out monsters like that?_"

Laughing at Mariah's scrunched up face, Viper mockingly asked "Confused at my moves girl? Well, you should be. After all, it's not something that you'd think a normal person would do, but I'm not normal you see. I have a strategy to defeat you and take your Duel Energy, so don't think that you can even figure out what I'm doing. Now then, I activate the spell Reasoning! With this, you must pick out a monster level. Once you have guessed, I get to pick up cards till I find a monster. All other cards are tossed out till I find one. If it's the level you declared, that monster is tossed out, but if it's a different level, I get to special summon that card, if it's possible to. So then, what is the level you shall guess?"

Somewhat afraid of guessing wrong, Mariah took a deep breath. "_Calm down. Getting nervous and not picking the right level won't help you. Just approach this rationally. Thus far, he's only had level one, three, four, and five monsters tossed out. He had a level two monster, but it's highly unlikely that it or level one is what he'll draw. I saw mostly level four in the ones he tossed out, meaning he more than likely he only has a few level four monsters left. Still, if I had to guess, I'd think four was the best bet. I'll do it, I'll guess level four._"

"I pick level four." Mariah confidently remarked.

Sneering, Viper coolly replied "A wise choice, but will it be the right level? Let's find out!"

Picking up his first card, Viper calmly said "It is a trap, so it's going to my Graveyard."

Nonchalantly, he placed it in the Graveyard and drew his next card, revealing it to be a spell. He once more repeated the process of dumping the card and drawing, only to reveal another spell. Two more cards later, Viper drew a card and smirked evilly upon showing it to Mariah.

"This card is a monster, but it's not level four. It is level eight, so arise Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0/0)!" Viper declared.

Slowly, rising up onto the field was a creature with a golden helmet shaped like a snake with a face that had a green mask that covered all but his mouth. On his shoulders was a green set of robes that looked like a snakes head. On each shoulder was a golden snake facing one another, and a dark pink cape draped down his back. His arms and hands were made up of numerous snakes, each hissing loudly. Below his waist, a black robe stood open, revealing a green snake tail with a white underbelly. The creature let out a small snicker, as if mocking the monsters on the field.

Confused, Mariah asked "A level eight monster with zero attack points?"

"He is much more than he seems my dear child." Viper interjected. "Vennominon may not look like much, but he is very powerful, I assure you of that. I activate Vennominon's special ability. You see, for each Reptile Type monster in my Graveyard, his royal highness gains 500 attack points."

Gasping in shock, Mariah quickly did the math in her head of the monsters that went into Viper's Graveyard and realized the depth of trouble she was in. Sneering at her shocked look, Viper continued on and said "Right now, I have twelve Reptile Type monsters in my Graveyard, meaning my Vennominon has 6000 attack points (0 + 500 12 6000/0)!"

Mariah could only watch in horror while the snake king creature's black aura began to flare up. He screamed out with a smirk on his face while his power increased greatly beyond anything Mariah had ever seen, with exception of her uncle and aunt in duels with her parents. Fear suddenly sunk in, making her cower a bit.

"_He played me for a fool, and I let him lead me into it. With all of my monsters out in attack mode, I'm a sitting duck!_"

Taking a deep breath, Mariah slowly calmed herself. Closing her eyes, she softly smiled and said "_No, this duel isn't over yet. I still have monsters that can stop him. I just have to be patient, that's all. Besides, he can't wipe me out this turn anyways._"

"I hope you weren't counting on hanging on till the end of this turn." Viper interjected, making Mariah reopen her eyes.

Calmly, she replied "This duel isn't over. You can't beat me this turn."

Sneering at this, Viper smugly said "You are so wrong about that theory little girl. By now I'd think you'd not underestimate me, but I see I'm wrong. It's time I delivered the final blow, and what better a card to do it with than this one!"

Flipping the card to show Mariah, Viper once more sneered at her reaction. Seeing the card, her eyes widened and she gasped aloud in complete shock.

"I take it you've seen this before then. Yes, this powerful equip spell card shall be what turns this duel around for me." Viper boasted. "I activate Megamorph, and equip it to Vennominon, meaning his attack points are now doubled (6000 2 12000/0)!"

Immediately, the snake king creature's body began glowing with a dark aura. It flared up greatly and spread out a good bit, making the robed monsters on Mariah's field shrink back in fear.

Seeing the snake king creature grow stronger, Mariah sank to her knees. Looking downwards, she mumbled "It's over…"

"_I underestimated him, and now I'll pay the price._"

Glancing over at her fallen roommate, she mumbled in her mind "_I'm so sorry Hinata that I couldn't avenge you and stop this guy. I was a fool to think I could out think him so easily. Now we've both lost, and it's my fault._"

"Farewell you brat! Vennominon, destroy her pathetic Gravekeeper's Chief with Fanged Venom!" Viper commanded.

--

Softly walking along with Marie nearby him, Illidan continued to glance around. The day had been a good day for his students, along with himself and Marie. Both of them had fought their way into the Sweet Sixteen Duels for the Genex Tournament and won them, allowing them to move onto the next round, but that had not surprised him too much. After all, both Marie and he were excellent duelists, and it only figured to him that the two of them would get this far in the tournament.

The two were out on their nightly patrol of the campus as always. They had begun the patrol a few days after they had arrived, mostly checking the island for the mysterious assailant that preyed on the students. Thus far, neither had sensed anything out of the ordinary, like always.

"Illidan, I think we're wasting our time like always. Perhaps we should go back home." Marie calmly said.

"Not yet." he replied. "Something's up, I know it. I can feel it in my bones. I've had a weird feeling all day that something was wrong, and it's still there."

Sighing, Marie grumbled lowly "You and your damn feelings are giving me a headache."

Lightly chuckling at the thought that she thought he hadn't heard her, Illidan continued onwards. Finally, he suddenly felt something, and realized what it was.

"Feel that Marie!?" he asked with a touch of worry.

Reaching out with her own senses, she noted what he was talking about. "That's a Shadow Game of some kind, that much is for sure. I can sense two people in it, with a third nearby, but the third is unconscious."

"Me too." Illidan remarked while focusing his senses on the weaker of the two energies he felt. Suddenly, realization hit his face and he began running towards the source.

Marie couldn't keep up with him, which he knew would happen, but continued on nonetheless. "_This is bad, very bad! Mariah is the person this nut job is targeting. I'd recognize her energy anywhere! I have to hurry and save her before it's too late!_"

For less than ten minutes, Illidan ran faster than he thought possible. He soon came to the Obelisk Blue Dorm and saw the lake. Just beyond the tree line, he could feel the Shadow Magic in the air. Rushing towards the spot, he finally got within hearing range and heard someone.

"Farewell you brat! Vennominon, destroy her pathetic Gravekeeper's Chief with Fanged Venom!"

It was a man's voice that Illidan heard, but didn't recognize it. He burst into a small clearing where he saw Mariah sitting on her knees, her head hung downwards. She had four monsters out, all which he identified quickly within his mind. He also noted she had her field spell in play. Glancing at the man's field, he saw that the man only had one monster, which was attacking at that moment.

The snake king creature aimed his five snake like fingers at the man in black and white robes and released a stream of purple liquid. The liquid struck home on the white robed man, shattering him instantly, while the remainder of the blast struck Mariah hard, knocking her backwards into the black translucent barrier that surrounded her and the man.

"MARIAH!" Illidan screamed while rushing forward towards her. Along the way, he noted Hinata nearby and softly growled.

"_He attacked both of them. I bet he took Hinata on first and then fought Mariah. Damn him!_" he cursed in his mind.

The blast finally ended, allowing Mariah to be released. After a moment, she curled up into a fetal position and her body instantly glowed with an orange aura. The aura flared up and shot a beam of energy into the sky, into what looked like a blue shimmering portal. Once the energy beam had finished, the aura vanished and Mariah passed out. Upon doing so, the barrier vanished, allowing Illidan to arrive at her side.

Carefully turning her onto her back, he checked her vitals, finding they were normal. Closing his eyes, he called upon his Shadow Powers to check her soul, only to find it was still intact within her body. Letting out a sigh of relief, Illidan stood up and glared at the man before him.

"Who are you!? And why did you do this!?" he demanded.

The man only sneered and said "I have what I wanted from that girl. Her Duel Energy was much richer than that other pathetic girl there."

"I ASKED WHO YOU A QUESTION! WHO ARE YOU!?" Illidan snarled, furious over the man ignoring the question.

"If you want to find out, why don't you follow me?" was the only response Illidan got before the man ran off.

Clenching his fists tightly, Illidan felt torn over going after the man and over taking care of Mariah. Luckily for him, about this time, Marie finally came running into the clearing, somewhat out of breath. Coming up to his side, she noted the fallen Mariah and Hinata and softly gasped at the two.

"Two of them?" she questioned. "What's going on?"

"No time to really explain Marie. I just saw the guy that attacked them and I have a chance to stop him I think. Can you handle things here!?" Illidan quickly asked.

"I guess, but shouldn't I go…"

"NO! Stay with the girls and get them some help if you can! I'll bring that guy down, no matter what!" Illidan stated with a touch of anger in his voice.

Worry instantly filled her eyes and she quickly said "Come back to me and Arya, ok?"

Turning to smile softly at her, Illidan nodded. "I promise I will." he calmly vowed.

Walking over to her, he placed a chastising kiss on her lips and smiled once more. "Don't worry, I'll return." he confirmed. "I love you."

"I love you too. Go on, he's getting away." Marie commented.

Nodding, Illidan turned and began running in the direction of the man had. Watching Illidan leaving the area, Marie softly whispered to herself "Stay safe my love."

--

After a few minutes of hard running, Illidan began making out the image of the man ahead of him. He hadn't been running too hard apparently, but when he noted Illidan was coming, he picked up his pace a bit more.

"GET BACK HERE!" Illidan screamed after the man running ahead of him, who ignored him once more.

The two were running at a rather vigorous pace towards the part of Duel Academy Island that was not really inhabited. It was secluded, with no one hardly ever setting foot within the area due that it was off limits.

Finally entering into a clearing, the man that had been running stopped and turned to face Illidan. Stopping a few feet away, Illidan glared at the stranger. In better light, he could now see the man had a Mohawk like haircut, much like his friend Tristan, a hard stone set face, large muscular biceps, and wore a black uniform that looked similar to the Duel Academy Blue uniforms, with the exception of two large dull grey metal shoulder pads that came over his chest that had a red and blue light on each side, with what looked like metal fangs protruding. On the man's belt was a Duel Disk that was on his right side.

Sneering at Illidan, the man coolly said "I'm impressed that you kept up with me. I'd have guessed you'd drop out after the first mile."

"I'm not so easy to lose." Illidan calmly remarked while glaring angrily at the man. "Who are you, and why have you been taking energy from duelists!?"

"You're a curious one, now aren't you?" the man taunted, making Illidan lightly growl. "I guess since you kept up with me and followed me back here, I have no choice but to explain myself. My name is Thelonius Viper, and I am here to collect Duel Energy for my Master."

"What purpose could your master have for this Duel Energy!?" Illidan angrily asked.

Sneering, Viper replied "That is something that only he knows. I only obey my Master in order to receive my payment."

"What possible payment would be worth the suffering of these young people here!?" Illidan furiously asked.

"Why, the revival of my son of course. Once I defeat you, I shall have completed my task and my Master will have all the energy he needs. He has promised me the payment of reviving my son, and life shall once more be complete." Viper explained.

Growling lowly, Illidan venomously snapped back "Harming these students is not worth it! You could seriously injure or kill them if you're not careful! I won't allow you to do this anymore! You're going to pay for all those students you hurt, especially for Mariah!"

"Ah, that girl meant something to you, eh?" Viper teased.

Clenching his fists, Illidan glared at Viper and replied "She is my niece, and I will not allow you to get away with the harm you caused her."

"Then come and make me pay Illidan. The angrier you are the more rich your Duel Energy shall be when I take it from you." Viper remarked.

Holding his arm out and jamming his deck into his Duel Disk, Illidan powered it up and growled out "Shut up and activate your Duel Disk so I can put an end to this!"

"Don't you hush me!" Viper snapped back while pressing a button on his belt buckle. Instantly, his Duel Disk moved out from his right hip and slid over till it was directly in front of him. The two lights on his shoulders glowed to life, along with the rest of the Duel Disk.

At the same time, both picked up five cards, with each saying "Game on!"


	7. Chapter 7: Swampy Situation, Pt 1

Chapter 7

**Hey everyone! So, this weekend was not too bad. I saw my mom, although I didn't get to see my sister. Arg, I kind of wanted to see her since she came in with my mom, but she was too busy with her boyfriend. I understand her being with him, but it's a bit irritating that she came to visit family and instead spent most of the time with him, but oh well. Grandpa was doing pretty well. He told my grandmother that it was I who sent her roses (my mom actually did), but she didn't quite believe him, lol. Other than that, my weekend was quiet.**

**Writing wise, I've been flying through some chapters for this story. Also, I've been trying to work on **_**Another**_** again, but I lose interest while at home, but the part I'm at has to be written at home, so oh well.**

**Last time, Mariah found Hinata unconscious with Viper stealing her Dueling Energy. She boldly challenged the snake man, only to lose the duel and her own energy. Luckily, Illidan showed up at the end and has chased down Viper. Now that Illidan has confronted the one harming the students at the academy, can he put an end to the attacks?**

**Alright, time for reviews!**

**Nathan: Yep, things aren't slow like always, hehe. Yes, Viper isn't a teacher, but instead a villain. Glad you approve. True, Illidan and Viper are dueling early, but who knows what may happen. You are correct about Megamorph. I did kind of fudge that one, lol. Cool that you caught the part about Proto-Cyber Dragon as well. Glad you liked the chapter, and me and ardee shall continue to work hard on this story. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Welcome to my story, and I'm glad you like this story thus far. Heh, most of the original cards came from ardee, although I did come up with a few myself. It's a team effort. Glad we have your attention, hehe. Eh, I guess my characters are a little overpowered, but it just happened that way. Thanks for the review!**

**Okami Princess: LOL! I'm sorry to have Chazz trounced so badly, but Zane was in a bad mood (obviously, anymore, stays in a one, lol) and didn't feel much like taking it easy on Chazz. Hmm, you never know, Yubel and Haou could be around, but that may not be true also. I know, very irritating when I say they could or could not be, hehe. Not true about Joey being better than Illidan since Illidan has beaten Joey on a few occasions. In **_**ToP**_**, the two pushed one another rather far, with Illidan coming out on top in their duels, but they were close duels nonetheless. Actually, originally, I meant for them to always have a friendly rivalry, but it kind of faded, sadly. Anyways, thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Viper has crashed the party officially now. Very true, it's more to his nature to be undercover than pretending to be a teacher. Being a villain is what he's good at, lol. Yes, his Venom deck is rather deadly still yet, much like the show, if not deadlier than it. Glad you recognized Darren from ardee's fic. Heh, true, it will be interesting to see how Illidan handles this fight between himself and Viper. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelshtla-Mental: Yep, good old Viper has made it at last. Lol, he may make it to the next chapter, you never know. Yes, you are correct about Megamorph. I did fudge the effect, which when I wrote it, I was certain I had, but paid no heed. True, bending the rules is fun sometimes, especially when it provided an entertaining ending to a duel. True, it hasn't been as dangerous as the prequels (well, **_**FG**_** had a very slow beginning, while the others, the danger was more present), but danger could be sneaking up. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Glad you did like what happened next, lol. Thanks about the duel. True, it appears that Viper is behind the attacks on the students, but why is still the big question. Mariah's face down card, well, I guess I can reveal it. It was Rite of Spirit, a trap that deals with bringing back a Gravekeeper from the Graveyard while Necrovalley is out. It wouldn't have helped her at all to play it, so I left it be. So, as you can see, she couldn't stop him, so the mystery is over, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yeah, many things are finally happening. Viper is indeed within this story. Season 1? He wasn't in Season 1… He has a valid reason to be there though. Obviously, he was promised his son back if he did what he's been doing. More explanation will come though. Very true, I was playing too much for my own good. I could use the mental help, but it's too expensive, lol. Yeah, I saw episode 139 came out a week ago, and then 140 this past weekend. Man, they messed things up big time with Supreme King. It angers me so much how they've destroyed the true plot to Season 3 thus far. I mean, first they didn't kill off Viper, only said he was gone… That made no sense! Then the way they did the Supreme King taking over Jaden was so stupid. I mean, it sounded so much better the other way. I'm just awaiting to see what they do with Adrian. They'll mess that up big time, I'm sure. But yes, they totally changed the main idea of how Supreme King took over Jaden, which is dumb… Oh well, no use to cry over it, I suppose. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you everyone for your reviews. I really enjoyed reading them this time around. Again, I thank everyone for them. If anyone didn't get to review, or has never reviewed before, I encourage you to do it. I won't bite… too hard. Lol, but seriously, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to review and put them down. I'm more than happy to answer anything, so long as it does not give away the plot. Again, thank you everyone for your reviews.**

**That's all for me today. I hope everyone has a good week. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

"I'll begin!" Illidan growled out while drawing a card. "I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000) in attack mode."

Appearing onto the field was a small child-like mage in white robes with white gloves, an odd white mages hat, blue boots and spandex like material peeking out of his robes. He held a small white staff in his right hand and had silver hair.

"To end, I'll place a face down card. Now come and get me." (Illidan 8000, Viper 8000)

Smirking great big, Viper drew his sixth card. Before he could say anything, the white mage glowed brightly for a moment, with Illidan calling out "Before you do anything, my Silent Magician's effect just kicked in. Every time you draw a card, he gains a Spell Counter, which grants him 500 additional attack points (1000 + 500 1500/100)."

Lightly chuckling, Viper bantered back "Not too bad Illidan, but you'll need more than that mage's weak tricks to beat me. Now then, before I take my turn, I shall show you how I took the energy from those pathetic brats. You see, we are going to play a little Shadow Game!"

Without warning, the area surrounding the pair darkened and became shrouded in dark fog. A dome appeared around the two, effectively sealing them away from the outside world.

"Normally, in this Shadow Game, you'd only lose your Duel Energy, but my Master informed me that when I faced you, I was to take everything from you. That means not only your Duel Energy will vanish, but the very energy that drives your life force will be taken as well. Once you lose, you will have nothing left." Viper bragged.

"Are you finished?" Illidan questioned coldly.

Somewhat surprised by Illidan's tone, Viper sneered and replied "I see you're a bit of a cheeky one. Master was right to say taking that girl's energy would affect you. I had heard that you were calm and serene always, but he said taking the energy of someone close to you might rile you. I see he was right."

"Alright, it is time I stopped explaining and start showing you why you should be fearful of me. I activate the field spell Venom Swamp!"

Tapping the end of his Duel Disk, a slot opened up. Gently, he placed the card within the slot and smirked when it snapped shut. Spewing out of the ground from the center of the field was a thick, crimson like liquid. The liquid quickly covered the field and gave off a foul odor, one of death. Dead trees sprung up around the field as well, each missing leaves and with part of their bark removed.

"I shall explain what this field spell does soon enough, but first I summon Venom Serpent (1000/1800) to my field."

A twin headed green snake with a white underbelly instantly materialized onto the field with it's tongue flicking in and out.

Darkly chuckling, Viper added "I activate the effect of my Venom Serpent. Once per a turn, I can add what is known as a Venom Counter to a monster on the field. I add it to your weak mage."

Both heads of the snake opened their jaws and fired a blue haze. The haze swirled together, forming a blue oozing snake that was hissing and quickly crossing the field at an alarming rate of speed. Without any warning, the snake wrapped itself around the white mage's left leg and bit into the young mage, making him cry out in pain and weaken in strength (1500 – 500 1000/1000).

Shocked by this, Illidan alarmingly asked "What did your monster do to my Silent Magician!?"

"Nothing really, although it had help from my field spell." Viper began. "Whenever Venom Swamp is out, when a monster gains a Venom Counter, Venom Swamp drains 500 attack points of the monster that has the counter. Since your mage was just bitten, he lost 500 attack points, and will only continue to get weaker."

Grabbing the four of his remaining cards in his hand, Viper placed them into his Spell/Trap Slots and said "I place these four cards face down and move to my End Phase. During each of our End Phases, Venom Swamp's final effect kicks in. Every monster on the field that doesn't have 'Venom' in it's name gains a Venom Counter, meaning your pathetic little mage is about to get weaker once more (1000 – 500 500/1000)."

In the crimson colored muck, another blue oozing snake leapt up and latched onto the white mage's right leg. It instantly sank it's fangs into the mage, making it scream out in pain while more of it's strength vanished.

Watching Illidan growl lowly, Viper darkly laughed and said "I end my turn." (Illidan 8000, Viper 8000)

"_Every single one of my monsters will lose some of their attack points during our End Phases. That means almost every turn, my monsters will be open to attacks. This is bad, very bad._" Illidan mumbled within his mind.

An image of Mariah's falling form suddenly flashed in his mind, angering him once more at Viper. Shaking his head, he grumbled "_I can't let my anger take over. I'll play sloppy if I do._"

Taking a calming breath, he mentally said "_Calm down and assess the situation. Don't let your anger get the better of you now._"

Calmed at last, Illidan drew his card and smirked. "You may have the field advantage Viper, but that won't stop me! I sacrifice Silent Magician LV4 to summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"

Vanishing from the field, the white mage disappeared in a small flash of light. Taking his place was a large dark orange skin dragon with dull grey armor covering it's body and stubby wings. It's tail had a spiked mace ball on it's tip, and it's clawed hands were covered by metal gloves. The dragon let out a small roar, sending a bit of a rippling effect across the crimson liquid.

"Armed Dragon, show Viper you're no push over! Destroy his snake with Infernal Roar!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dragon charged across the field, sending the crimson liquid spraying out behind it. Raising both hands, the dragon slashed the snake roughly with it's clawed hands, making the snake hiss out in pain before shattering. Viper used his left arm to shield himself from the remainder of the attack that struck him, making him slide backwards slightly.

Once the dragon had returned to Illidan's field, Viper began to darkly chuckle. "Thank you Mr. Stormrage for your attack. You just triggered all four of my traps! Go Reptile Equals Damage, A Rival Appears, Jar of Greed, and Accumulated Fortune. First, Accumulated Fortune activates if it's fourth in a chain, allowing me to draw two new cards. Next, Jar of Greed allows me to draw a card from my deck, meaning I get three cards altogether!"

Picking up three cards, he smirked and placed all within his left hand. "Now then, with A Rival Appears, I can select a monster of yours and then special summon a new monster to the field, so long as it's the same level as your monster. I select your Armed Dragon LV5, meaning I can special summon a level five monster from my hand!"

Grabbing a card from his hand, he slapped it to his Duel Disk, saying "I pick this one, Venom Boa (1600/1200)!"

A large blue snake with three aqua colored eyes, a white underbelly, and a smaller snake on the tip of it's tail appeared onto the field with a hiss.

"Next, for Damage Equals Reptile, when a Reptile Type monster is destroyed, I can special summon a new one from my deck with attack points equal to or less than the Battle Damage incurred. Since I took 1400 points of damage, I pick this one, my Venom Snake (1200/600)!"

Upon Viper slapping the card to his Duel Disk, a grey snake with orange stripes, a pale yellow underbelly, and rattles on it's tail appeared. It instantly revealed it's fangs and let out a loud hiss.

Sneering, Viper asked while shuffling his deck and placing it back within it's slot "Would you like to help me out anymore Illidan!?"

"You may have a few new snakes, but I'll skin them yet. For now, I move to my End Phase…"

"GOOD! That means your dragon is bitten by Venom Swamp's effect! Go Venom Counter, weaken his dragon (2400 – 500 1900/1700)!" Viper yelled with joy on his face.

A blue oozing snake instantly came crawling out of the ground and wrapped around the dragon's right leg. Without hesitation, the snake sank it's fangs into the orange dragon, making it howl in pain.

Smirking at this, Illidan said "I was waiting for that."

"What? Waiting for that, but why?" Viper asked in confusion.

Chuckling, Illidan held his right hand out towards his dragon, saying "Because, during the End Phase of the turn Armed Dragon destroyed a monster, his effect goes off. Now I can sacrifice him in order to summon his next form, so farewell Armed Dragon LV5 and hello Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000)!"

Shrouded in white light, the large dragon on the field instantly grew in size, with it's body sleeking somewhat. When the light vanished, a new dark orange skinned dragon with dull grey armor appeared onto the field. This one had metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from it's legs, and finally a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected orange skin. Letting out a massive roar, the dragon made the sludge covered field ripple from it's power.

Viper could only glare at Illidan at the move. "Not too shabby, eh Viper?" Illidan lightly bragged. "Your move." (Illidan 8000, Viper 6600)

Picking up a new card, Viper darkly chuckled and said "Not too bad at avoiding my field spell Illidan, but it will take much more than that to beat me. I activate Venom Boa and Venom Snake's special abilities! First, Venom Boa can add two Venom Counters to a monster on the field, so long as it doesn't attack this turn. Unleash your venom my Venom Boa!"

Opening it's jaws, the blue three eyed snake fired a two spurts of blue ooze. The ooze instantly took the form of two blue snake creatures, that each wrapped around the large dragon's legs and sank their fangs into the dragon, earning them a howl from the dragon while it's strength decreased (2800 – 500 2 1800/1000).

"And don't forget about Venom Snake. It can now unleash a Venom Counter itself, so weaken his pathetic dragon even more (1800 – 500 1300/1000)!" Viper commanded.

Opening it's jaws, the grey and orange snake shot a blast of blue ooze at the dragon, which transformed into a blue snake. The snake instantly wrapped around the dragon's right arm and sank it's fangs in deep, making the dragon roar while shuddering in pain.

"Next, I summon Sinister Serpent (300/250) in defense."

Rising up onto the field in a coiled up position was a green serpent creature with a pair of wings that had yellow feathers in it. It flicked it's tongue in and out, seemingly warning any attacking monster.

Frowning, Illidan asked "Why summon Sinister Serpent?"

"He is an example of what will happen to your monsters when they have zero attack points due to Venom Swamp's effect. I set one card and move to my End Phase, meaning Venom Swamp's effect kicks in. Both my Sinister Serpent and your Armed Dragon receive a Venom Counter (300 – 500 0/250) (1300 – 500 800/1000)."

Rising up from the crimson liquid, two blue oozing snakes latched onto their quarry. The first struck the orange dragon on it's left arm and wrapped itself around it, making the dragon growl out in pain. The other wrapped around the green serpent, squeezing it tightly till the green snake exploded.

Sneering, Viper vindictively said "When a monster has zero attack points and Venom Swamp tries to squeeze out some points, the monster is instead destroyed. Get it Illidan, your pathetic creatures will share a similar fate. Soon, all of your monsters will be destroyed!"

Laughing manically, Viper declared "I end my turn." (Illidan 8000, Viper 6600)

Lightly growling at his dragon's weakened state, Illidan drew a card and grinned. "My dragon maybe weaker, but watch this! I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!"

Rising up onto the field was a beautiful sapphire dragon with ruby colored eyes. It had two bony wings and sharp clawed hands and feet. It let out a soft growl, seemingly showing it was a threat if bothered.

"Next, I play my Armed Dragon's effect! By discarding a card from my hand, my dragon can destroy all monsters on your field that have equal or less attack points to my discarded monster. I'll toss out Exarion Universe (1800/1900), meaning all of your monsters are destroyed!

Upon placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Illidan called out "Armed Dragon, take them down with Serrated Saw Discs!"

Roaring in response to the command, the powerful dragon's belly began to glow with two energy discs suddenly appearing. The discs began spinning rapidly till finally they went flying straight at the two snake creatures. Each was cut down, leaving Viper wide open and growling with frustration.

"Luster Dragon and Armed Dragon, direct attack with Ruby Blaster and Dragon Talon Terror!" Illidan commanded.

Opening it's jaws, the sapphire dragon spat a ruby colored fireball at Viper, hitting him hard and making him fall to one knee. He didn't get to rest long though, for the powerful orange skinned dragon took a step forward and pulled back it's clawed right hand. In a swift motion, the dragon rammed it, claws out, into Viper, making Viper grunt out in pain.

"Had enough?" Illidan gruffly asked.

Sneering, Viper stood and replied "Hardly."

"Fine then, I place a card face down and end my turn…"

"Not before my Venom Swamp takes 500 of your two monsters' attack points (800 – 500 300/1000) (1900 – 500 1400/1600)!" Viper declared.

Two blue oozing snakes instantly leapt out of the crimson liquid and latched onto the two dragons. The sapphire dragon was bitten in it's left arm, making the dragon screech in pain while the orange dragon was bit on the neck.

Listening to Viper's dark laughter, Illidan lightly sighed and said "I'm done." (Illidan 8000, Viper 3900)

"Admit it Illidan, you can't win this duel." Viper admonished while drawing a card.

Lightly growling, Illidan snapped back "No way! I'll win this duel yet, you'll see!"

"I doubt that. At this rate, you'll fall first."

"Not happening Viper!" Illidan argued back.

Shrugging, Viper calmly said "Whatever you say Illidan. First, I activate Sinister Serpent's effect. While in my Graveyard, I'm allowed during my Standby Phase to return it to my hand."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Viper sneered upon the monster card landing in his hand. Slapping it to his Duel Disk, he declared "And now, I summon Sinister Serpent (300/250)!"

Reappearing onto the field was the green snake creature with a set of yellow feathered wings.

"Next, I activate the spell Monster Gate! With this, I must sacrifice my Sinister Serpent!"

Vanishing from the field in a flash of white light was the green snake creature, only to be replaced by a large circular portal with shimmering blue light.

"This card allows me to now draw till I pick up a monster. All other cards are discarded along the way. Once I draw a monster, if it can be summoned, I'm allowed to play it to the field!"

Picking up his first card, Viper sneered and turned it towards Illidan. "I'm in luck, although yours has turned sour. I summon Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0/0)!"

The crimson liquid in front of Viper instantly began boiling. Slowly, rising up from the liquid while it ran down his body was a creature with a golden helmet shaped like a snake with a face that had a green mask that covered all but his mouth. On his shoulders was a green set of robes that looked like a snakes head. On each shoulder was a golden snake facing one another, and a dark pink cape draped down his back. His arms and hands were made up of numerous snakes, each hissing loudly. Below his waist, a black robe stood open, revealing a green snake tail with a white underbelly. The creature let out a small snicker, as if mocking the monsters on the field.

"Zero attack points?" Illidan questioned lowly.

Chuckling at Illidan's mystified look, Viper began explaining. "Vennominon is very different from all of my other monsters. First off, he is unaffected by Venom Swamp. Secondly, he gains 500 attack points for every Reptile Type monster in my Graveyard. Thus far, I've sent four, meaning his royal highness gains 2000 attack points from his subjects (0 + 500 4 2000/0)."

The snake king instantly grinned a bit when a dark aura began surrounding him. After a moment, the aura faded, but his power was much greater than before.

"I'll leave the third thing about Vennominon for later. In the meantime, I play the spell Venom Shot! With this, I send a Reptile Type monster of mine from my deck to my Graveyard, allowing me to add two Venom Counters to a monster on the field."

Picking his deck up, Viper searched through it for a moment before picking a card. "I toss out Venom Cobra, meaning Vennominon gets stronger with another royal subject in my Graveyard (2000 + 500 2500/0), while your Luster Dragon loses strength (1400 – 500 2 400/1600)!"

Upon the monster card sliding into Viper's Graveyard Slot, two twin blue ooze snakes were shout out of the two golden snakes on the snake king's shoulders. The twin blue snakes quickly crossed the field and wrapped around the dragon's legs and sank their fangs into it, making the dragon screech loudly.

Noting Illidan's glare at him, Viper darkly chuckled and asked with sarcasm in his voice "What's wrong Illidan? Not liking my snakes too well? Maybe Vennominon can change your mind! Go attack his Armed Dragon with Fanged Venom!"

Aiming his right side of snake like hands at the orange dragon, several of the snakes on the snake king's hand opened their jaws and released a spray of purple liquid. The liquid struck the weakened dragon, which howled out in pain before shattering.

Some of the liquid that struck the dragon sprayed onto Illidan's red jacket and instantly began melting. In complete shock, Illidan ripped the sleeve off and threw it to the ground. On the ground, the remains of the jacket sleeve melted away, leaving nothing behind.

"Some kind of acid?" Illidan questioned in a whisper.

Laughter broke through Illidan's guessing game, making him return his gaze to Viper. "Your end is nearing Illidan. I move to my End Phase, meaning your pathetic Luster Dragon gains another Venom Counter and meets it's doom (400 – 500 0/1600)!"

Another blue ooze snake flew up out of the crimson liquid and attached itself to the sapphire dragon, making it screech out in pain. Instantly, the dragon shattered from the attachment, seemingly having enough of the rough treatment.

"Your move Illidan, if you have one that is." Viper declared with evil laughter. (Illidan 5800, Viper 3900)

Looking at his deck, Illidan pondered on what to do. "_Nothing in my hand has enough fire power to take that snake down. Do I stall for now?_"

Thinking for a moment, Illidan closed his eyes, but upon doing so, the image of Mariah falling to the ground appeared in his mind. Reopening his eyes immediately, he growled out "_No! I won't retreat, not now! This duel is to put a stop to incidents like what happened! I won't allow this to continue anymore!_"

Drawing his card without another thought, Illidan gruffly slapped the card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)!"

Roaring onto the field was a silver dragon that looked more like a large silver bird. It had large silver wings for arms that were tucked in and large talons on it's feet.

"I activate a spell, Level Up! Now my dragon evolves to it's next form, so farewell LV4 and hello Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Aiming it's head at the ground, the silver dragon released a stream of black flames at the ground, which instantly engulfed the small dragon completely. After a moment, silver metal wings poked out of the flames, along with an eagle like head. With strong wing beats, the new creature pulled itself out of the flames, revealing that the silver dragon had metamorphosed from a smaller dragon into a dragon that looked very much like a predatory bird with a long silver tail. Landing onto the field, the dragon let out a screech.

"I end my turn for now…"

"Have you forgotten about Venom Swamp? Your dragon loses 500 attack points due that it gains a Venom Counter!" Viper piped in.

A blue oozing snake instantly rose up from the crimson liquid and wrapped around the silver dragon's right wing. The snake struck at the dragon, attempting to sink it's fangs in, but was unsuccessful. Instead, the blue oozing snake shattered, leaving Viper gasping in shock.

"What is this!?" he asked with unbelieving eyes.

Chuckling, Illidan pointed at his dragon, saying "It's a small surprise I had just for you. You see, Horus has a very special ability. While on the field, it's unaffected by spell cards, meaning your field spell can't sink it's fangs into my dragon."

Smirking at Viper grinding his teeth and lowly growling, Illidan added "With that, I end my turn." (Illidan 5800, Viper 3900)

Roughly grabbing a new card, Viper's anger subsided and an evil grin spread across his face. "I first bring Sinister Serpent back from my Graveyard to my hand. Of course, this weakens Vennominon (2500 – 500 2000/0), but that's alright."

Placing his hand in front of his Graveyard Slot, Viper patiently waited for the card to push out. Once in his hand, he placed it within his left hand and grabbed his other card remaining.

"I activate the spell A Feather of the Phoenix! Now I can send one card in my hand to my Graveyard in order to return one card in my Graveyard to the top of my deck. I choose my Venom Shot spell card, and discard Sinister Serpent."

Placing the monster into his Graveyard Slot, Viper smirked once the spell card came out. Grabbing it, he placed it on top of his deck and said "With Sinister Serpent back in my Graveyard, Vennominon gets stronger once more (2000 + 500 2500/0). Let's teach Illidan a lesson on summoning weak monsters to the field! Blast his dragon with Fanged Venom!"

Letting out a small dark chuckle, the snake king aimed his snake like right hand at the silver dragon. All five snake heads released a stream of purple liquid together, with the five streams combining to form one.

Smirking at the oncoming blast, Illidan pointed at his face down card and called out "Not happening Viper, for I have a trap! I play Rising Energy, which forces me to discard a card from my hand. I send Silent Magician LV8 to my Graveyard for the effect."

Tossing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Illidan smirked once more while his dragon began to glow with red energy. "Thanks to me tossing out that card, my dragon gains 1500 attack points for the turn (2300 + 1500 3800/1600), which is more than enough to wipe that snake out! Counter now Horus with Darkness Flames!"

Roaring loudly, the silver dragon spread it's wings and flapped several times till it was in the air. Taking aim at the oncoming purple mist, the dragon fired a stream of black flames straight at them. The black flames easily overpowered the mist and shot straight back into the weaker snake king, making him yell out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces. The remainder of the blast flew on back, striking Viper hard, making him scream out in pain. Some of the flames lightly burned holes into his clothing, making him yell out loudly.

Once the flames finally faded away, Viper was seen weakly standing. He darkly chuckled and said "Not bad Illidan, but not good enough to subdue me. I activate Damage Equals Reptile, and special summon to my field in defense Venom Snake (1200/600)."

Picking his deck up and sifting through it, Viper finally found the card he was looking for and slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk. Appearing before him instantly was a grey and orange striped snake with a pale yellow underbelly in a coiled up position.

Straightening a bit, Viper began chuckling, with Illidan raising an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" Illidan asked.

"My king still lives."

"What? No way, Horus obliterated that snake."

"Really? Then you won't mind when I activate his special ability. I remove from play a Reptile Type monster, which happens to be Sinister Serpent." Viper patiently said.

Slowly, the monster card slid out of his Graveyard Slot and into Viper's hand. He then placed it within another slot, his removed from play slot. Instantly, another monster card shot out of his Graveyard Slot and into his awaiting hand. Slapping it to his Duel Disk, Viper yelled out "Return now my Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0/0)!"

Remerging from the crimson liquid once more was the snake king, who grinned evilly at Illidan once more.

"And my king's points were revived as well. He gets 500 for each loyal subject in my Graveyard, and I count four still there (0 + 500 4 2000/0)."

Once more, the snake king's body glowed with a black aura as his strength climbed quickly.

Dusting his shoulder off, Viper modestly said "I must admit, I was surprised by your face down card, but you can't defeat me. I end my turn, meaning that dragon of yours gets weaker (3800 – 1500 2300/1600)." (Illidan 5800, Viper 2400)

Lightly growling with frustration, Illidan drew a new card. "_I can only keep chipping away at that things attack points for now. I only hope that's enough._"

"Alright Viper, I attack Vennominon once more with Horus! Blast it with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver dragon opened it's jaws, revealing black flames licking the outsides of it's mouth. Without hesitation, the silver dragon fired a stream of black flames at the snake king, who took the blast head on. The flames easily incinerated him, leaving nothing but the other weak snake on Viper's field.

Smirking at the destruction of his snake king, Viper called out "Don't forget Illidan, Reptile Equals Damage activates! Now I special summon my Venom Cobra (100/2000) in defense!"

Picking his deck up, Viper thumbed through it till he found the right card. Slapping it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, Viper smirked when a grey cobra snake with a few spikes sticking out of it's hood and off of it's tail appeared.

"And next, I remove from play another of my Reptile Type monsters. This time, it shall be Venom Snake, so rise up once more Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0 + 500 3 1500/0)!"

Instantly, the snake king remerged from the thick crimson liquid to reassume his place in front of Viper.

Softly growling with irritation, Illidan roughly jammed a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I place a face down and end my turn." (Illidan 5800, Viper 2100)

Calmly drawing his card, Viper nonchalantly said "I pass on my turn." (Illidan 5800, Viper 2100)

"Doing nothing won't save you from me!" Illidan roared while drawing a card. Examining it, he returned his attention to the field and called out "Horus, incinerate his Vennominon with Darkness Flame!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver dragon launched yet another stream of black flames at the snake king. Like before, the monster was easily destroyed, leaving Viper to cover his face from the remainder of the flames.

Sneering a bit, Viper coolly said "I activate Damage Equals Reptile, which means I can special summon a new Reptile Type monster equal to the 800 points of damage you did to me."

Thumbing through his deck, Viper finally picked a card and slapped it horizontally to his Duel Disk. "I pick this one, my Cobra Jar (600/300) in defense."

On the field, a blue vase with orange spots and a single orange stripe near the top materialized. Without warning, a green cobra with a yellow underbelly slid out of the top of the jar with it's tongue flicking in and out.

Moving his hand to his Graveyard Slot, Viper calmly added "I also remove another Reptile Type monster, my Venom Serpent, from my Graveyard to resurrect Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0 + 500 2 1000/0)."

Two monster cards instantly shot out of the Graveyard Slot into Viper's awaiting hand. One he placed within his removed from play slot, while the other he placed back onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, the snake king creature reappeared onto the field with an evil grin.

"I end my turn." Illidan growled out.

"That might be so, but my field spell weakens my Cobra Jar (600 – 500 100/300)." Viper commented.

Slowly forming from the crimson liquid, a blue oozing snake wrapped around the blue vase and bit into it, making the cobra hiss out in pain.

Shrugging, Illidan mumbled "Whatever." (Illidan 5800, Viper 1300)

Drawing his card, Viper showed it to Illidan. "I activate Pot of Greed. Thanks to this spell, I may draw two new cards."

Grabbing two cards off the top of his deck, Viper sneered at them and turned one towards Illidan, saying "I activate the spell Mystik Wok. This allows me to sacrifice a monster on my field and gain either it's attack or defense points. I sacrifice Venom Cobra, which has 2000 defense points, and add them to my life points."

The grey cobra at once vanished from the field in a flash of white light. Following it's vanishing, Viper's life point counter climbed.

"Ah yes, and since I just placed another one of Vennominon's loyal subjects into my Graveyard, he gets stronger (1000 + 500 1500/0)."

The snake king instantly smirked evilly while his body was engulfed by a black aura. The aura quickly vanished, but his strength had increased.

Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, Viper smirked and said "I think I'll lay this face down and move to my End Phase. Thanks to my Venom Swamp, Cobra Jar now gains another Venom Counter (100 – 500 0/300), effectively destroying it and adding another loyal subject to my Graveyard, thus granting my king more of the royal treatment (1500 + 500 2000/0)."

A blue oozing snake instantly came up out of the crimson liquid swamp and wrapped around the blue vase. Fangs bared the blue snake bit into the vase, shattering it along with the weaker green snake. Upon the green snake and the vase shattering, the snake king grinned evilly with a dark aura surrounding him, increasing his strength once more.

"Let's see what you can do now Illidan." Viper mocked. (Illidan 5800, Viper 3300)


	8. Chapter 8: Swampy Situation, Pt 2

Chapter 8

**Hello everyone. Well, first off, I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I was to post it yesterday, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to you. You see, on Wednesday morning, I found out that my step mom's father (my step grandfather, I suppose) passed away. He had been sick for a really long time, but he had finally given up the fight the last week or so. At any rate, he died and I found out Wednesday night that the wake and funeral, plus burial, was on Thursday. I decided to take off work and went down Thursday and stayed for the service. Den (my step grandfather) was a good man, and was quite humorous at times. He'd tell you how it was almost always, lol. Anyways, like I did Wednesday with my chapter for **_**Another**_**, I'm dedicating this chapter to him.**

**Writing wise, eh, I'm working on **_**Another **_**at night, and **_**MtM**_** during the day. So much fun, lol. There is a lot to do for each still, but I'm working at it.**

**Last time, Viper and Illidan's duel began, with Illidan taking charge early on and summoning out his Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6, which is immune to Viper's venomous field spell. Still, how long can Illidan hang on, or will he end up like the other students?**

**Alrighty, time for the reviews!**

**Okami Princess: Heh, I haven't really looked much at the next series for Yugioh (Yugioh 5D). Eh, I think the series has gone far enough. After all, Illidan and Marie can't fight forever. Thanks for the review.**

**Raymond Barrett: Glad you like the duel thus far. True, Illidan keeps killing Vennominon off, but Viper just won't let it die. It does get on a duelist's nerves I think when you can't kill something. Heh, I liked doing that to people sometimes, but other times, when I'm the one getting it done to, I hate it. Lol, it just happens I suppose. True, Viper better hurry up and do something if he wishes to win this duel, but you never know with snake man. Yeah, removing all of his snakes from play is not helping him, but you never know with him. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. It's cool about not reviewing recently. Life happens, so don't worry about it. Yep, that sicko is here, dueling Illidan. His deck thus far has been struggling against Illidan, but who knows with Viper. He could have an ace up his sleeve. Lol, maybe Illidan will grill those snakes. Thanks for the review.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, it is interesting. True, Viper could have rammed his snakes into Illidan's monsters, but he'd lose too many life points is why he didn't. Yes, Illidan was smart enough to not level up his dragon. He had a very good reason to not level up his dragon, much like you said. It's effect negates spells that would effect it, while LV8 would only negate the spell upon activation, not one that is active. True, the duel could go either way, but the way Illidan is playing, he seems to have a firm grasp on control of the duel. You never know, Viper could summon Vennominaga, but who knows, other than me, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: True, Mariah could have technically won her duel, but then we wouldn't have Illidan facing off with Viper, now would we, lol. Besides, it didn't occur to me actually, hehe. I was so focused on getting out her four monsters, then playing Necrovalley that I overlooked this small fact. Thanks for telling me about it. Glad you liked her duel nonetheless. Mariah should have won, but like I said, we wouldn't have Illidan facing off with Viper, now would we? Glad you liked the duel thus far for chapter 7 also. I decided that his deck needed to be more realistic, which is why I added other Reptile Type monsters other than the Venom ones. Yes, Viper had Serpentine Princess in his deck on the show, but never played it. Actually, my move for leveling up Armed Dragon is legit, I believe. I researched it, I think, and made sure it was a real ruling. I can't remember for sure though. But yes, I liked the idea of leveling up the Armed Dragon so that it was unaffected by Venom Swamp. Thanks for the reviews!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yes, you said Season 1, but I was guessing you mean Season 3, lol. Probably the roman numerals were removed, so oh well. Yeah, 4Kids really messed up the plot and scenes. I think Viper walking off a cliff was not that bad. I mean, Axel got buried alive, but he lived. Why not make them think Viper lived. And then there was Stein, he fell into a chasm. They need to just stay continuous in their decisions. Really, I think they should have just stuck closer to the real episodes, but whatever. Glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Viper is in his element for sure, being nasty and all up in Illidan's grill. Illidan is having a bit of difficulty with Viper's strategy, but with Horus LV6 out, I think he's figured out what to do. True, Venom Swamp is a powerful field spell, one that constantly shifts the balance of power in a duel since an opponent's monsters always get weaker by 500 in the End Phase. Hmm, an Alien and Venom hybrid deck would be interesting, although Aliens get weaker due to the field spell also. But it would be interesting, nonetheless. Glad you like the team of me and ardee on this story. I think thus far it's gone great. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Thanks, and you're welcome for the welcome. Btw, thanks for the add to favs. Heh, yeah, there are plenty of original cards one could make. I don't think our original cards are that hard to figure out though. Most are simplistic. Yeah, my stories build up my characters really. Starting out, Illidan wasn't that strong, but over time, he got much stronger, to the point he's probably at the top of the dueling world, or close. Still, that doesn't mean he's perfect. Obviously, with two losses in the last story, plus other losses to Marie that aren't written, he is appearing more human, I suppose. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all of them. It seems like I am getting more reviews, and they're getting longer also. Heh, I'm not complaining, I'm actually happy. Thank you all for expressing your comments and questions on this story to me. I really like answering them all! It's so much fun.**

**At any rate, I need to be going, so thank you all for your reviews. I look forward to next time around. And if anyone has questions or comments, don't be shy and post a review, or PM me if you don't want to be out in the spotlight. I'm more than happy to answer anything, so long as it don't cut into the plot. Thanks again guys!**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8**

Grabbing a new card, Illidan slapped the card to his Duel Disk hard. "I summon Mirage Dragon (1600/600)!"

A golden scaled dragon with a long snake like body, long white hair coming off of it's head, and sharp clawed hands and feet appeared onto the field.

"Horus, blast his Vennominon back to the Graveyard with Darkness Flames!"

Roaring out loud, the powerful silver dragon opened it's jaws and once more launched a stream of black flames straight at the snake king, who only grinned at this.

Bursting out loud laughing, Viper pointed at his face down card. "You truly are a fool Illidan Stormrage! You just fell into my trap, or more like my spell! I activate the spell Burial from a Different Dimension, which allows me to transfer three monsters in my removed from play pile to my Graveyard. I only have three monsters removed from play, so return now to my Graveyard my monsters!"

The removed from play slot on Viper's Duel Disk instantly glowed. Soon enough, the glow died down and three cards pushed out of it. Grabbing the three, Viper placed them into his Graveyard Slot, which sucked them down one by one.

"With three of my monsters returning to my Graveyard, Vennominon gets the royal treatment (2000 + 500 3 3500/0)!"

Glowing brightly with a dark aura, the snake king grinned evilly while his strength increased to new heights. Illidan could only gasp in shock at the increase and felt a drop of sweat slide down the side of his face.

Pointing at the oncoming stream of black flames, Viper roared out "Vennominon, show that dragon who the true king is around here! Counter with Fanged Venom!"

Sneering at the silver dragon, the snake king raised his right snake tendril arm. The five snake heads all shot out a burst of purple mist that combined into a single blast. Combined, the single shot of purple mist struck the black flames and pushed the flames backwards to the source, the silver dragon. In a thunderous explosion, the silver dragon was engulfed by the purple mist, shattering it with ease. Some of the remaining mist ventured past the dragon's remains and landed on Illidan's jacket, instantly beginning to dissolve it. In haste, Illidan quickly threw his jacket off and watch in horror as it dissolved into nothingness.

"How was that Illidan? Did you enjoy watching your dragon be dissolved before your very eyes?" Viper taunted.

Staring at his lone monster on the field, Illidan glanced back at Viper's field. "_He played me for a fool. I was so angry that I lost my focus, and now look at the mess I'm in. Damn it, I should have known he was playing me. He's been plotting and planning this since the beginning, just trying to build up Vennominon's strength. Now his snake is too strong for me to beat it with normal tactics and I'm forced to defend._"

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and tried to find his calm center. "_I just have to calm down and focus. This duel isn't over yet. I still can win. It won't be easy, but I can do it._"

Reopening his eyes, he calmly said "I end my…"

"Not quite Illidan, or did you forget about my Venom Swamp!? It's effect now activates, weakening your pathetic dragon (1600 – 500 1100/600)." Viper declared.

Leaping out of the crimson liquid upon this declaration was a blue oozing snake. It instantly wrapped around the golden scaled dragon and sank it's fangs deep into the dragon's hide, making it screech out in pain.

Sighing lightly, Illidan said "I end my turn." (Illidan 4600, Viper 3300)

Picking up a new card, Viper darkly chuckled and smugly said "You're no match for my snakes Illidan. I activate Venom Snake's special ability and add another Venom Counter to your pathetic dragon (1100 – 500 600/600)."

Opening it's jaws, the grey and orange striped snake spat a blast of blue ooze that formed into a blue oozing snake. The snake immediately latched onto the weakened golden dragon and wrapped itself around the dragon's midsection. Without hesitation, it sank it's fang's into the dragon, making it howl in pain.

"Vennominon, blast his pathetic dragon to the Graveyard with Fanged Venom!"

Grinning evilly, the snake king took aim with it's snake hand. A blast of purple mist quickly fired from all five snake hands and began it's trip towards the weakened golden dragon.

Lightly smirking, Illidan pointed at a face down card, calling out "Not so fast Viper, I play my trap! Go Waboku!"

Materializing onto the field in front of the weakened dragon were three female mages in blue robes. Holding their hands out, the three created a blue barrier. The purple mist struck the barrier, but went spraying everywhere. After a moment, the mist vanished, revealing a completely intact barrier. The mages soon vanished, along with the barrier.

"Thanks to my Waboku, all Battle Damage went to zero, so my monster is safe for this turn." Illidan commented.

Sneering, Viper remarked "It seem so, from battle at least. I place a card face down and activate Venom Swamp's effect. Now your dragon gains another Venom Counter (600 – 500 100/600)."

Another blue oozing snake came leaping out of the crimson liquid below the dragon and wrapped around the upper part of the golden scaled dragon. With no hesitation, the snake sank it's fangs into the dragon, which roared loudly from the sudden discomfort.

"I end my move." (Illidan 4600, Viper 3300)

Drawing a new card, Illidan lightly smirked at it. "_This should help out soon enough._"

Looking back at Viper, Illidan slid the card into his Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I activate the spell Future Fusion. Now, I can take some monsters from my deck that form a Fusion Type monster and toss them into the Graveyard, and in two of my Standby Phases, I can summon that new monster."

Grabbing his deck and fanning it out, Illidan found the three he was looking for and pulled all three out. Shuffling his deck and placing it back into it's slot, he showed Viper the three monsters. "I pick these three, my Cyber Dragons (2100/1600). In two of my Standby Phases, I'll have their fusion, the Cyber End Dragon."

Gently placing all three monsters into his Graveyard Slot, he patiently watched while all three monster cards were sucked into it one by one till none were left. Returning his attention to Viper, Illidan grabbed the remaining card in his hand and slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk.

"In the meantime, I'll set this monster in defense. I'll move to my End Phase now, meaning my dragon is unfortunately destroyed."

Slithering out of the swamp was another blue oozing snake creature. It quickly struck at the golden dragon and injected it's poison. The dragon instantly shuddered and exploded from the bite, leaving only the horizontal face down card image of a monster to protect Illidan.

"I end." (Illidan 4600, Viper 3300)

Bursting out into a maniacal laughter, Viper pointed an accusing finger at Illidan. "You just don't know when to quit, do you! Do you really expect to beat me with suck weak tactics!?"

Smirking, Illidan mockingly remarked "Why don't you come and find out. I'm not one to ever give up, so come and see how much resolve I have left to beat you."

Quickly drawing a card, Viper darkly chuckled and said "I shall. I switch Venom Snake into attack mode. Next, I move to attack with Vennominon! Blow away his face down with Fanged Venom!"

Aiming his snake head tendrils at the face down card image, the snake king fired a burst of purple mist from each snake head. The mist struck the face down card image, shattering it and revealing a black stream engine with grey puffy smoke pouring out of it's chimney. It had a strange, evil looking face painted on the front of it, with fangs poking out of it's mouth and an evil set of eyes. The train instantly shattered upon being revealed, sending out a small smokescreen.

"Thanks for doing that Viper. You just flipped up my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000). When flipped up, I'm allowed to draw one new card. And here you thought I was finished off." Illidan remarked while picking up a new card.

Darkly chuckling, Viper replied "Not bad, but not good enough! Direct attack him Venom Snake!"

Hissing loudly, the grey and purple striped snake quickly slithered across the field and stood up to reach Illidan's chest. With blinding speed, it struck Illidan's right arm, making him scream. The snake soon withdrew it's fangs and backed away, but there were two puncture wounds left on Illidan's arm. He quickly clutched the wound and lightly whimpered in pain.

"It hurts, doesn't it Illidan? Just wait till the venom slowly begins to take effect." Viper gloated. "Then you'll really wonder why I didn't destroy you sooner. I end my turn." (Illidan 3400, Viper 3300)

Getting ready to draw, Illidan touched his top card but felt odd. Glancing at his arm, he felt a burning sensation begin coursing through his right arm, right at the place where the bite mark was. "_What the hell is this!? It feels like my whole arm is on fire! Surely that small amount of venom couldn't have done this much damage! I've never been snake bitten before though, but in all the Shadow Games, I've not felt this kind of pain. It's like my arm is going to burst into flames._"

"It's burning, isn't it Illidan?" Viper questioned with a smirk. "That is the venom from my Venom Snake. True it is not a very strong venom, but it should be enough to make you realize that you are in serious danger."

"I've been through worse." Illidan candidly commented. Drawing his next card, Illidan examined it before grinning. "Looks like you're going to get to meet one of my most trusted monsters. I remove from my Graveyard my Silent Magician LV8 and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive in order to special summon the beginning of your end, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Both monster cards instantly pushed out of Illidan's Graveyard Slot and into his awaiting hand. Picking both up, he placed them into his removed from play slot and slapped the new monster to his Duel Disk. A slight shimmer appeared on the field and from it came a warrior with black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, as well as a few blotches of red, mostly around his helmet. In his right hand was a powerful bronze colored sword, and in his left was a strong shield with black and gold coloring. On his shoulders were two golden backward sweeping spikes. His face had a light shade of green. The helmet that protected his head had three flowing spikes pointing behind him, and coming out from under it in the back was a braid of brown hair.

Sneering at the new warrior, Viper arrogantly said "Pathetic. You waste your time to summon that creature!? He's not even strong enough to take on my Vennominon."

"You're absolutely correct there Viper, he's not strong enough to take on Vennominon." Illidan retorted. With a smirk, he added "But that's if he attacked alone. That's why I'm going to combo this with him! I reveal my face down spell, Rush Recklessly! With this, my Black Luster Soldier gains 700 attack points for this turn alone (3000 + 700 3700/2500)."

Glowing white instantly, the soldier let out a small cry from his power increase.

Viper instantly gasped in shock at this power increase, but Illidan quickly called out "Black Luster Soldier, take his royal highness down with Chaos Slash!"

Rushing forward at blinding speed, the black armored soldier slashed the snake king in half with ease, sending a thunderous explosion out. The crimson liquid on the field rippled greatly from the explosion, with some spewing into the air.

Grinding his teeth loudly, Viper seethed with anger, but suddenly calmed and began darkly chuckling. "Impressive move Illidan, but not enough to stop me or my king. I remove from play my Venom Snake in order to resurrect my Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes (0 + 500 6 3000/0)."

Ripples began forming instantly in front of Viper in the mucky crimson liquid. Slowly, the snake king rose up onto the field once more with an evil grin.

"Glad you did that Viper, because my Black Luster Soldier has a trick of his own." Illidan boasted. "When he destroys a monster in battle, he's allowed to attack a second time! Go, strike his snake once more with Chaos Slash!"

Launching his body forward at breakneck speed, the soldier in black armor quickly reached the snake king once more and slashed him in half again. Like before, the snake exploded, sending the crimson liquid spraying into the air.

With the smoke slowly clearing from the explosion, Viper called out "My king's reign is not over, for I remove Venom Cobra from my Graveyard to bring him back once more (0 + 500 5 2500/0)!"

As the smoke completely vanished, the snake king erupted from the crimson liquid once more with an evil grin.

"His reign was shortened a bit though. I place one card face down and end my…"

Smirking, Viper yelled "Not exactly Illidan! Don't forget, Venom Swamp now takes 500 of your monster's attack points (3000 – 500 2500/2500)!"

Rising up out of the swamp, a blue oozing snake crept up the black armored soldier's leg and wrapped around it. It then sank it's fangs into the warrior, making him cry out in agony.

Lightly sighing, Illidan said "I end my turn." (Illidan 3400, Viper 2400)

Confidently drawing his card, Viper darkly chuckled and said "Time for the grand finally for that weakling warrior. I activate Venom Shot, meaning I must toss out a Reptile Type monster from my deck. My choice is my Venom Cobra."

Grabbing his deck, he fanned it out till and pulled the card out. Placing it into his Graveyard Slot, Viper smirked evilly. "Now the fun begins. Vennominon first gets stronger due that I have another Reptile Type monster in my Graveyard (2500 + 500 3000/0), while your monster gets two Venom Counters added to it (2500 – 500 2 1500/2500)!"

Raising both arms towards the black armored warrior, the snake king fired a blue oozing snake from each snake head on both arms. The twin blue oozing snakes quickly crossed the field and wrapped themselves around the weakened warrior's arms. Simultaneously, each sank their fangs into the warrior's arms, making him scream out in agony from the pain inflicted upon him.

"Next, I activate Venom Snake's special ability and add yet another Venom Counter to your pathetic warrior (1500 – 500 1000/2500)."

Opening it's jaws, the grey and purple striped snake fired a blue ooze out of it's jaws at the warrior. The ooze soon transformed into a snake and wrapped itself around the warrior's other leg. With precise movements, the snake struck the warrior's leg, injecting it's venom and making the warrior howl in pain.

"Vennominon, obliterate that pathetic warrior with Fanged Venom!"

Aiming it's right arm, the snake king smirked while the five snake heads for a hand fired a purple mist at the black armored warrior. The warrior stood his ground and was struck hard by the purple mist. He instantly cried out in pain and shattered, allowing the remainder to pass by and strike Illidan. Cringing greatly, Illidan yelled out in pain and fell to one knee as the venom burned through his t-shirt and into his skin.

Laughing at Illidan clutching his chest and panting, Viper pointed at Illidan and said "You are truly weak! Why my Master would ever want your Duel Energy, I will never know, but I don't dare question him. Now then, I place a card face down and switch Venom Snake to defense. I end my turn." (Illidan 1400, Viper 2400)

Panting heavily, Illidan whimpered lightly when he touched his wound from where the venom had spewed onto him. His right arm still felt like it was on fire, and his body was beginning to slowly throb with pain.

"_I have to get up. I can't let him win, no matter what._" he yelled within his mind.

Groaning from the pain, he stood up and pushed it to the back of his mind. Drawing his card, he smirked and said "It's time."

"Huh?" Viper asked with a clueless look. "What are you babbling about?"

Smirking a bit, Illidan replied "Remember Future Fusion? I put it into play two turns ago, and now it's my second Standby Phase."

Realization dawned onto Viper's face instantly, but he only stayed calm and confident. "Whatever you have won't survive this duel." he bragged.

"Don't be so sure. Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

The spell card image instantly glowed brightly and a blinding white light flashed on the field. Coming out of the light was a large three headed mechanical snake like dragon with massive wings. The three heads each let out a machine roar, forcing the crimson liquid on the field to ripple.

"I believe it's time to end this duel." Illidan calmly stated.

Bursting out loud laughing, Viper mockingly said "You end this duel? Please, you must be delusional."

Smirking a bit, Illidan shook his head and pointed at the weaker grey and purple striped snake. "Not really. You see, Cyber End Dragon has a very special ability. When it attacks a monster in defense, it deals you damage equal to the difference in it's attack points and your monster's defense points, or in laymen's terms, it has Trample effect."

Viper's eyes instantly widened upon realization of this news. "You wouldn't…" he began.

"I would!" Illidan replied. "Cyber End Dragon, let's finish this duel up! Blast his Venom Snake with Super Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a massive roar from each head, each of the three heads opened their set of jaws, allowing white glowing energy to begin to spill out. Having a target, they successively all three spat out a stream of white energy, which formed into one large stream and went racing towards the weaker snake creature.

Sneering at the oncoming blast, Viper pointed at one of his face down cards. "Sorry to disappoint you Illidan, but this duel is not yet over. I play the trap Ambush Fangs, which activates when you attack one of my 'Venom' monsters. Now your attack is negated!"

Instantly, a spray of crimson liquid hit the air, which took the shot for the grey and purple striped snake from the large white stream of energy.

"Your Battle Phase ends now, and then your dragon gains a Venom Counter for it's trouble (4000 – 500 3500/2800)." Viper smugly pointed out.

Without warning, a blue oozing snake creature leapt up out of the crimson liquid and wrapped around one of the three machine dragon's heads. It instantly sank it's fangs into the dragon, making it let out a mechanical roar from the pain.

Softly growling, Illidan gently placed a card in his Spell/Trap Slot and murmured "I'll set this and then my dragon loses 500 points due to your field spell (3500 – 500 3000/2800). I end my turn."

Up from the murky crimson liquid came another blue oozing snake that latched onto another of the three machine dragon's heads. Once on, it sank it's fangs in, making the dragon growl out with pain. (Illidan 1400, Viper 2400)

Picking up a card, Viper smirked and said "I activate Venom Snake's special ability. Now I can add yet another Venom Counter to your dragon (3000 – 500 2500/2800)."

Opening it's jaws, the grey and purple snake spat a blotch of blue ooze. The ooze soon morphed into a blue oozing snake, which quickly wrapped around the remaining free head and bit down into the dragon roughly, making the dragon howl out in pain.

"Vennominon, destroy that pathetic dragon with Fanged Venom!"

With an evil grin, the snake king took aim with his right hand. Each of the five heads on the snake king's hand launched a toxic purple mist straight at the weakened machine dragon.

Seeing the blast coming, Illidan called out "Not happening Viper due that I'm playing a spell, De-Fusion! This let's me split apart…"

"Oh no you don't Illidan!" Viper cut in. "I play my trap, Snake Deity's Command! By showing that I have a 'Venom' monster in my hand, I can negate the activation of your monster. The monster in my hand is this, Venom Cobra, a definite 'Venom' monster."

Two blue oozing snakes instantly leapt out of the crimson liquid and wrapped around the spell card. Together, they dragged it down, leaving a growling Illidan.

The purple mist continued on and struck the weakened machine dragon. With little effort, the mist dissolved the dragon, shattering it into millions of pieces. A bit of the purple mist fell onto Illidan's right shoulder, instantly burning a hole into his shirt and burning his skin. All Illidan could do was whimper in pain and cradle his wound.

"Admit it Illidan, you're finished!" Viper announced. "You have nothing to beat me!"

Lightly growling, Illidan stubbornly shot back "No!"

"Stubborn to the end, eh?" Viper mocked. "Very well then, I shall take you down regardless. I end my turn." (Illidan 900, Viper 2400)

Panting lightly still, Illidan looked at his deck, pondering what to do. "_I've got to figure something out, and fast. If I don't, this could be it._"

Shaking his head lightly, he growled out "_No, I won't let it end like this. I promised Marie I'd never leave her again, and no matter what, I will keep my promise!_"

Drawing a card, he examined it for a moment before showing it to Viper. "I play Pot of Greed, letting me pick up two cards."

Grabbing two new cards, Illidan lightly smiled and placed both within his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I first lay one card face down and next play the spell Mirage of Nightmare. With this, during your Standby Phase, I get to draw till I hold four cards, but during my Standby Phase, I must discard the same number I drew. Ok, that's it for me." (Illidan 900, Viper 2400)

Darkly chuckling while drawing his new card, Viper smugly asked "That's all, eh? Well then, allow me to continue your destruction."

"Hold onto that thought." Illidan called out. "Mirage of Nightmare just activated, meaning I get to draw four new cards."

Watching Illidan pick up four cards, Viper darkly chuckled and tauntingly said "Like they matter right now. I switch Venom Snake into attack mode, and now, his royal highness is going to put the final nail in your coffin. Direct attack him now Vennominon with Fanged Venom!"

Aiming his five snake headed tendril right hand at Illidan, the snake king fired a burst of purple mist from his tendril. The mist went flying directly for Illidan, seeming bent on finishing him off.

"Not this time Viper! I play a trap, one of my wife's favorites. Here comes Draining Shield!" Illidan called out with a smirk.

Appearing before Illidan instantly was a golden energy shield. The purple mist struck it head on, sending some of the mist spraying about the field. A majority of if was absorbed into the shield, which glowed bright green. Without a moment's notice, the green energy shield broke down into a stream of energy and entered into Illidan's Duel Disk, raising his life points.

"What was that!?" Viper snapped.

Smirking at the unsure look on Viper's face, Illidan replied "That was Draining Shield. Whenever you attacked, your attack was negated and your monster's attack points were added to my life points. Thanks for the boost."

Grinding his teeth together, Viper yelled out "You won't make a fool of me! Venom Snake, direct attack with Vengeful Bite!"

With a loud hiss, the grey and purple striped snake swiftly cross the field. At the opportune moment, it leapt up and bit into Illidan's left arm, causing him to yell out in pain and sink to one knee.

Chuckling, Viper smirked and tauntingly asked "You aren't so tough now, are you?"

Grasping his new wound, Illidan sucked in a sharp breath and slowly stood up. "I'll win this duel yet, just watch." he slowly replied.

"Doubtful, especially since you're barely hanging by a thread as is. Just face it, you're done for."

Flinching from the pain shooting up his left arm, Illidan shook his head and hotly remarked "I refuse to give up this duel. I will win."

Shrugging, Viper coolly remarked "Very well then, I shall continue grinding you into dust. I place a face down card onto the field. My move is over." (Illidan 2700, Viper 2400)

Biting his lip from the pain he was feeling, Illidan closed his eyes and lightly whimpered in his mind from his injuries. "_This Shadow Game is truly pushing me hard. I don't think I've fought a more torturous game in a very long time. And if I'm not careful, I'll take too much damage to my body and could possibly permanently injure myself. I just have to keep my strength up and don't give up._"

Opening his eyes, Illidan pushed the pain to the back of his mind with all his mental energy. Smirking he began to draw a card, but Viper cut in, saying "Don't forget about your Mirage of Nightmare, Illidan. You lose four cards once you draw."

Chuckling, Illidan replied "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well then, I activate my face down spell, Emergency Provisions. With this, I can sacrifice a spell or trap card from my field and gain 1000 life points from it. I think I'll get rid of Mirage of Nightmare, meaning I gain a thousand points and don't have to discard any cards."

Instantly, the spell card image faded away into sparkling dust while Illidan's life point counter rose. Picking up a card, he smirked at Viper's angry glare. "No need to get bent out of shape Viper. I can turn that frown upside down I bet. I play the spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three new cards, but I have to toss out two when I'm done."

Grabbing three new cards, he examined them for a moment before picking two out. "I toss out Dark Magician of Chaos and Fusion Recovery. And now, it's time for me to take out that overgrown iguana, and it begins by bringing back an old friend of mine. I activate the spell Monster Reborn, and I'm using it to bring back my most trusted monster, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Flaring up onto the field in front of Illidan was a fiery pentagram. Rising up through it slowly was a blue skinned mage with closed eyes, wearing tight fitting black leather armor that covered all of his body except his face. Long black hair flowed down his back, with a strange mage's hat on his head and a black staff in his right hand. Fully on the field at long last, he opened his eyes, revealing yellow corneas with red irises. The moment his eyes opened, the flames extinguished and he took up an offensive stance.

"What a pitiful monster to have as your most trusted. He's too weak to beat Vennominon." Viper boasted.

Ignoring the comment, Illidan called out "When brought back to the field, my mage's special ability kicks in. I can now return one spell card from my Graveyard to my hand, so I pick Monster Reborn."

Upon the card sliding out of Illidan's Graveyard Slot, he grabbed it and showed it to Viper once more. "I activate Monster Reborn again, bringing back for a second try my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Rising up onto the field once again was the three headed machine snake like dragon with massive wings, with each head letting out a massive mechanical roar.

"Let's finish this Viper!" Illidan declared. Pointing at the grey and purple striped snake, he called out "Dark Magician of Chaos, blast that snake with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Pointing his staff at the weaker snake, the blue skinned mage shot a blast of black magical energy straight from his staff. The blast went flying straight for the snake, seemingly intent on destroying it.

Sneering at the blast, Viper pointed at his face down card. "You sure are blind to my traps Illidan. I play the trap Altar for Tribute, which allows me to sacrifice a monster and add it's attack points to my life points. I'll offer my Venom Snake to it, thus adding it's points to my life points."

Instantly, the snake vanished from the field, causing the black blast of energy to strike the ground where the snake had once stood. The mage softly growled in frustration, but calmed quickly.

"With another royal subject in my Graveyard, Vennominon gains more strength (3000 + 500 3500/0)." Viper added with a smirk while his creature's strength increased.

"I'm not through with you yet Viper! Go Cyber End Dragon, blow his Vennominon away with Super Strident Blaze!" Illidan commanded.

With a mighty mechanical roar, the three headed dragon took aim and launched a white stream of energy from each of it's mouths. The streams merged into one to form a large stream and struck the powerful snake king head on, making him scream out in pain before shattering.

Laughing manically, Viper sneered once more at Illidan and said "Thank you for that Illidan. Now I may play a trap that will devastate you and your monsters. Go my Rise of the Snake Deity! You see, when Vennominon is destroyed, I may special summon my most devastating monster in my deck. She will destroy you completely, soul and all! Rise up to my field now Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes (0/0)!"

Slowly rising up out of the crimson liquid upon this declaration was a female monster with cobalt blue snakes for hair, a golden head piece with a green emerald in it on her forehead, two glowing red eyes with no mouth visible, a large golden necklace around her neck with a green emerald hanging off of it, two red spots covering her breasts completely, twin twisted thick cobalt blue snake arms with red eyes and large fangs, and a long cobalt blue tail with a yellow underbelly. Once fully on the field, she let out a loud hiss, making the mage and machine dragon shift uncomfortably.

"Feel honored Illidan, for this is the first time I've had to summon my ultimate monster while here at this school. None of the students were worthy of her presence, but to finish you off, I will grace you with her sight." Viper smugly remarked.

Staring at the snake woman, Illidan wryly asked "I suppose she has a special ability?"

Darkly chuckling, Viper nodded his head. "Yes, she does. Like Vennominon, my mighty Vennominaga gains 500 attack points per a Reptile Type monster in my Graveyard. At this moment, there are eight loyal worshipers of my deity in my Graveyard, meaning she has 4000 attack points (0 + 500 8 4000/0)."

The female snake woman instantly began glowing with a dark pink aura. With a light hiss, the woman's snake arms each snapped their jaws open and closed in a quick motion with their new power.

"As for my Vennominaga's other abilities, I'll let you discover them soon enough." Viper slyly remarked.

Looking at the cards in his hand, Illidan placed a card into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I'll throw this face down and move to my End Phase where your field spell activates (4000 – 500 3500/2800) (2800 – 500 2300/2600)."

Rising up out of the crimson liquid were two blue oozing snakes. The first latched onto the machine dragon's first head and sank it's fangs in while the other attached itself to the black armored mage's right leg and bit it. Both monsters howled in pain instantly upon the bite, with the mage clutching his wound with pain on his face.

Looking downward, Illidan mentally mumbled to the mage "_I'm sorry for not being able to keep you from this pain._"

Glancing over his shoulder at Illidan, the mage replied "_Do not worry, this pain is nothing to me Master. We will prevail._"

Nodding lightly, Illidan returned his attention to Viper. "I end my turn." (Illidan 3700, Viper 3100)


	9. Chapter 9: Swampy Situation, Pt 3

Chapter 9

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, me and my mate went and saw a play that my coworker was in. I had been helping him rehearse his lines for weeks, so I got to see the final product. The play was called "Teahouse of the August Moon," and was rather hilarious. It was a comedy, obviously, lol, which takes place after WW2 on the island of Okinawa. If no one has seen the movie, or ever heard of the play, I definitely recommend it. My coworker played the part of Captain Fisby, who did an excellent job. At any rate, again, I encourage people to go see it. Moving on, after the play, I determined late that night that I have a sinus infection due to the sore throat, stuffy nose, and just general yuckiness. Stupid sinuses… Sunday I stayed in bed for the most part, trying to recoup my strength, which worked I suppose. I felt well enough to go to work yesterday, and today, I feel decent, but not at 100 still yet. Maybe 65-70, but that's it. I'm nearly well, but not quite. My sore throat is gone, but I still have a lot of mucus in my chest, that much is certain. Other than that, I'm recovering, so yay. Also, I received an early birthday gift from my mate, in the form of both Lego's Star Wars games! The first is pretty awesome. Now if only I could keep from killing my mate when we play together, lol. Me and Jedi seem to equal problems between the two of us, lol. I have no lightsaber control apparently, hehe. Anyways, it's a fun game, and I'm looking forward to playing more.**

**Writing wise, I finished up a piece in **_**Another**_**, which I'm so thankful for. I'm to the point in it again that I can write on it once more at work if I so choose (before, on the part I was working on, I couldn't (wouldn't) do it at work). As for **_**MtM**_**, it's still moving along nicely too. Things are going good on it thus far, so I'm happy with that.**

**Last time, Illidan and Viper continued to wage battle, with Viper seemingly gaining the upper hand at long last. Now with Vennominaga out, the question is, will Illidan be able to survive the serpent's wrath, or will he taste her deadly venom?**

**Wow, the reviews are so great on this story! Thank you all for sending them in, and for those that have added this to their favs and alerts. I appreciate it. And without further ado, it's Review Time!**

**Okami Princess: Yeah, Illidan nearly had Viper with DMoC and Cyber End Dragon, only to come up short. Of course, now with Vennominaga out, things are going to get interesting. Illidan may kick that snakes butt this chapter, but you never know. Heh, a story on Arya, eh? Never know, it may happen, but I'm still unsure what I'm going to do once I finish up with this series and **_**Another**_**. I'm still undecided, but I've had offers on writing on other stories with ardee and a few others, but I've not made any decisions yet. I'm still up in the air on what to do, especially since I have other story ideas. We'll see. As for doing it in the 5D's style, eh, I don't know. I'm not too sold on the idea yet, but you never know with me, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, the powerhouse snake is on the field. True, it is a hard card to beat. Really, it's pretty indestructible, but only if you have enough Reptile Type monsters in the Graveyard. If not, she's a joke. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Actually, Burial from a Different Dimension is a quick play spell in real life, much like the show. I didn't cheat with that card, hehe. True, Illidan could have removed Vennominon from the game with BLS, but BLS would have gotten weaker, plus, Viper wouldn't have lost as many life points. Not to mention, that puts a snag in the plot, lol. Eh, you never know, he may have to resort to Chaos Control to win this game. Very true, Vennominaga is immune to everything but battle, which makes her hard to bring down. Time is most definitely on Illidan's side, but you know Illidan, he'll fight to the bitter end. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yep, the final stretch is coming up. Who is Viper's master you ask? Hmm, could be Yubel, could be someone else also. Never know who may have sent him. I know, haha, quit playing the "I don't know" game when I really know, lol. It's cool about my step grandfather. He had a really good life, and was a lot of fun to talk with at times. He was rather friendly. In a way, I felt closer to him than his wife, but then again, I never talked to her much. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Lol, yes, Illidan attacked with BLS. I know, he could have ended it all then and there, but Illidan decided to chop Viper down instead. Like I said before, it would cause plot problems for him to remove Vennominon from play. More like make the duel that much longer… True, Illidan has to deal with Vennominaga now, which could be a problem. You never know, he may do something dramatic to win, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. True, it will be interesting to see Illidan facing off with the powerful Vennominaga, which can only be defeated in battle. We'll see how he does soon enough. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Original cards are fun, but I hate to bend the game around to my own desires really. If I can play fairly in a duel, I will, but if it calls for it, I will make cards, hehe. Yep, Roxas used the D-Heros instead of Aster. Heh, I kind of followed my own storyline in the previous story before I found out there was a second season. Silly me, I know. Glad you liked the story, and hope you continue to enjoy this one. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews for today. Wow, it seems to get longer and longer. I'm not complaining, not one bit, just surprised I guess, lol. I really enjoy responding to each of the reviews, and thoroughly like reading each. Thank you all for sending them in. I look forward each time I post a chapter to reading each one, so thank you again. And to anyone who has any comments or questions on this story, or any of my others, please, don't hesitate to post a review. I will always give you some kind of answer to a question. Of course, I won't reveal the plot, but I'll try and answer the question or comment to the best of my abilities.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

Picking up a card with absolute calmness, Viper examined it and evilly smirked. "It is time I showed you what my snake deity can do! Vennominaga, attack his pathetic mage with Venom Vapor Blast!"

Stretching her right snake headed arm out, the snake deity shot it straight forward, with it hissing loudly and snapping it's mouth open and shut.

With only a moment to spare, Illidan pointed at a face down card and heatedly called out "Don't think so Viper! I play the trap Magic Cylinder!"

Appearing before the blue skinned mage were two pink barrels with yellow question marks and some yellow designs on the tips. Both open ends were pointed back towards Viper.

"With Magic Cylinder, I get to negate your attack and then your monster's attack points are deducted from your life points! Game over Viper!" Illidan confidently explained.

Sneering, Viper wryly replied "Not quite there Illidan. I neglected to tell you one of Vennominaga's special abilities. You see, she is a deity, thus she is unaffected by spell, trap, or monster effects, meaning your pitiful Magic Cylinder doesn't effect her!"

Watching in complete shock, Illidan saw the blue snake that had been approaching go flying straight through the first barrel, shattering it completely. It then wrapped it's body around the black armored mage and bit down into the mage's neck. The mage could only gasp in shock while black blood began to spew out of his mouth and his eyes dulled. At long last, the mage exploded, leaving the snake in the air.

"Dark Magician of Chao…" Illidan mumbled with heavy sadness in his voice. "_I'm so sorry my friend. I never wanted something like that to happen to you._"

Without warning, he noted something pass by him on his right side. He was about to look when suddenly the blue snake that had destroyed his mage bit down onto his right shoulder. He immediately screamed out in pain while the snake finally released it's hold and slithered back to snake deity.

Clutching his wound, Illidan suddenly felt dizzy and sank to his knees while pain racked throughout his body. Sweat began forming all over his body, with it feeling like it was on fire, and his breathing became a bit more labored.

"_What is this!? My body feels like it's on fire, it's getting harder to breath, and my vision is getting blurry. What in the hell is happening to me!?_"

"What's the matter Illidan, not feeling well?" Viper taunted, instantly bringing him out of his thoughts. "I'm sure you're wondering what's happening to yourself right about now. Well, I shall explain it for you. You see, Vennominaga has a very devastating special ability when she deals you Battle Damage. She gets to add a special counter to herself known as a Hyper Venom Counter. When she has three, I win the duel automatically."

Sneering, he added "But in a Shadow Game like this one that we're playing, if she strikes you three times, her deadly poison will kill you. The first strike will weaken your body, causing dizziness, pain, shortness of breath, etc. The next one will only intensify, if not add more, ailments, but the last will be the one that fully kills you. When the last dose of her venom enters your body, it will shut down due that the venom will eat you inside out. You have a fitting end to look forward to."

Trembling a bit, Illidan growled lowly and forced himself to his feet once more. "I won't fall to you in this duel." he gruffly shot back with a raspy voice.

Laughing loudly, Viper sneered and replied "We shall soon see, won't we? I place this face down and move to my End Phase, in which your pathetic dragon gets weaker (3500 – 500 3000/2800)."

Another oozing blue snake instantly leapt out of the crimson liquid below the dragon and wrapped around one of it's two remaining heads. Selecting one, the snake instinctively sank it's fang's into the dragon, making it let out a low mechanical cry of pain.

"I end my move." (Illidan 2000, Viper 3100)

Lightly panting still, Illidan began to draw his card, but noted when he was trying how exhausted he was. After a moment, he finally drew his card, but the seriousness of the situation began to weigh heavily on his mind.

"_Not good, most definitely not good. The poison is working it's way through my body and making me so much weaker than before. I have to figure out how to get rid of it. Even though I have healing powers, they won't be able to remove the poison from my body. I'll just have to tough this out._"

Letting out a small ragged breath, Illidan closed his eyes. Instantly, an image of Marie looking at him with love reflecting in his eyes appeared. Taking a deep breath, Illidan calmed himself. "_I will survive this duel. I promised Marie to never leave her alone again, and I aim to keep my promise, no matter what. I won't leave her and Arya alone in this world, no matter what Viper has planned for me!_"

Reopening his eyes a bit refreshed, Illidan examined his new card. "I place this face down and switch Cyber End Dragon to defense. With that, I'll move to my End Phase in which your field spell takes a few more of my dragon's points away (3000 – 500 2500/2800)"

Jumping up out of the crimson liquid upon these words was a blue oozing snake that immediately latched onto the machine dragon's remaining free head. With it's fangs already sunk in, the snake coiled tightly around the dragon, seemingly squeezing it.

"Your move." (Illidan 2000, Viper 3100)

Drawing a card with a sneer on his face, Viper placed the card simply into his left hand and pointed at his face down card. "I play my trap, Zero Gravity! Now all of our monsters switch their modes to the opposite of whatever they're in. That means your dragon goes to attack mode."

Moving out of it's defensive stance, the machine dragon extended it's wings and let out a warning growl. Illidan could only grunt out with irritation.

"Of course, Vennominaga is unaffected by my trap due to her special ability. Now, Vennominaga, give that dragon something to really growl about! Venom Vapor Blast!"

Raising her left arm, the snake deity sent it racing forward with it snapping it's jaws open and closed rapidly. The snake easily went sailing straight through the three headed machine dragon, causing a massive explosion with a large plume of smoke.

"Where, oh where could my Vennominaga come from this time Illidan?" Viper smugly asked. "She could strike you from any direction."

Coughing lightly from the smoke, Illidan kept glancing around, looking for the snake that struck him the previous time. Without warning, the snake sank it's fangs into his left side, making Illidan gasp in shock and cry out at the same time from the sudden pain.

With the smoke clearing, Viper smugly said "Looks like you found it finally."

Upon that being said, the snake released it's hold while Illidan fell to his knees. Unable to hold himself up on his knees alone, he sank to his hands as well. He breathing was very labored, with some rasps coming out. Without warning, he coughed loudly and spat up a large pool of blood. Sitting up onto his knees weakly once more, he used his right hand to wipe the blood off of the corner of his lip before suddenly spitting up another large pool.

Laughing loudly at Illidan, Viper pointed at him and said "You are pathetic! Why my Master fears you, I don't know. I know this much though, you are going to die on my next turn. Prepare yourself for your final turn Illidan. I end my move, so come and accept your death." (Illidan 200, Viper 3100)

Weakly, Illidan attempted to stand, only to fall back onto his knees panting heavily. "_It hurts so much to just breath, but it's agony to even attempt to stand._" he mumbled in his mind.

"You will never win this duel Illidan Stormrage! What you fight for is nothing compared to me!" Viper stated.

"What do you fight for that's worth hurting everyone?" Illidan weakly asked.

Smirking, Viper remarked "My son's life. He deserves better than what happened to him."

Clenching his right fist, Viper added "When I was still a soldier, I went on a mission to a foreign land. There, in the rubble of a building, I found a baby that was abandoned. His parents' bodies were buried within the rubble, so I took it upon myself to save the child. I took him home with me and raised him up, naming him Rick. He grew to be quite an energetic young boy. When he was old enough, I gave him a deck for his birthday."

Eyes misting a bit, Viper softly said "He was so happy that I remembered what he wanted and was so eager to duel me. I had work, so I told him once I got home we would duel. I told him to be good and listen to his nanny and take care of his cards. He of course said he would, but about that time, a strong gust of wind blew his cards away. Rick desperately tried to catch them, but failed to notice he was in the street. At that time, a large truck was coming down the street and hit him. Had I been faster, I could have saved him, but alas, I wasn't and he died due that I failed to protect him."

Returning a glare to Illidan, Viper snarled "That's why I must defeat you! My Master has promised to return my one and only son to me once I complete this task. With your life, you shall revive my son. Feel gracious that you will be giving your soul for such a noble act."

Slowly, Illidan managed to stand on trembling legs. Wiping some of the blood off of his mouth with the back of his hand, he slowly said "I am truly sorry for you losing your son like that. It was a tragedy that should never have to have happened. I know if I lost my own daughter, the pain would be beyond anything this world or the next could give me."

Pausing for a moment, he closed his eyes. "Still…"

Reopening them with a look of anger in them, he sternly added "I cannot forgive you for what you have done to these students. None of them deserved what you have done to them. For their sake, I will stop you, once and for all!"

Darkly chuckling, Viper raised an eyebrow and asked "How so Illidan? You have nothing on your field other than a face down. Your opposition is a monster who is unaffected by spell, trap, and monster effects, meaning you are out of options. Just surrender and let your last moments be that of peace."

"Feh, my life is anything but peace." Illidan muttered with a smirk. Feeling a small tremble in his left leg, he smacked it lightly, making it relax. "I have a daughter who is intent on keeping me and my wife from having any alone time together, and that has shown signs that her Shadow Powers are developing. Then there is my wife, who I love dearly, but have thoughts of killing due to her inability to let go of our daughter for a moment, not to mention who can't cook either. There are students who sometimes grate on my nerves, along with all these foolish Pro Duelists who think they're the best."

Dripping with heavy sarcasm, he added "And to top it all off, I have to deal with a nutcase snake charmer, who wants to revive his dead son by nearly killing all of my students."

"Mock me all you want, but it will not get you any closer to winning this duel. Just admit it Illidan, you're finished." Viper remarked.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan replied "I've heard that before."

Closing his eyes, he moved his hand to the top card on his deck. Fingering it, he saw an image of Marie with tears streaming down her face came into his mind. It was the day that he had lost that one duel and was sent to the Shadow Realm by Legato.

"_You were gone when I came to, and I thought I had lost you forever! Please, don't ever leave me again!_" she had wailed.

Softly smiling, he remembered his plain answer. "_I won't, I promise._"

He had made the same promise once again not long after she had Arya. Upon her birth, he pledged to never leave Marie and Arya, no matter what happened.

Steeling his resolve, he opened his eyes and drew his card. Examining it, he smirked. "I activate the spell Magical Stone Excavation. This forces me to discard two cards from my hand, and allows me to return one spell from my Graveyard to my hand. I'll toss out Fusion Recovery and Tsukuyomi, and return Pot of Greed."

Placing both cards into his Graveyard Slot, Illidan patiently watched while the two were sucked in. Finally gone, the slot glowed lightly and his one spell card returned from it. Picking it up, he turned it to Viper, saying "I play Pot of Greed, meaning two new cards for me!"

Grabbing the top two cards on his deck, he smirked and said "The end is coming for you Viper. I play my trap, Call of the Haunted, allowing me to return to the field one monster from my Graveyard. I pick the beginning of your end, Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Rematerializing onto the field upon this declaration was the soldier in black shiny armor once more.

"Time to summon the end of your beginning! I remove from play Tsukuyomi and Silent Magician LV4 in order to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Appearing onto the field with a massive roar was a black dragon with massive wings, powerful arms, legs, and a tail, and a orange mane of hair on it's head. Letting out another mighty roar, the dragon took up position beside of the black armored warrior.

"Pathetic Illidan." Viper mocked. "You waste your time with two monsters that have not enough strength to take on Vennominaga. Very disappointing."

Smirking at this, Illidan held up a card and replied "True, neither have the strength alone to slay your snake, but I'm about to change that. I've never had a chance to play this card till now, and I must say, I'm excited about playing it."

"What card?" Viper asked with irritation.

Revealing the card, Illidan placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot, causing a holo image of the card to appear before him. "I play the spell Chaos Fusion! This card acts like Polymerization, but works only on my Chaos monsters. Now I can fuse together monsters on my field with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it together. So, I fuse Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning with Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End to create…"

Both the powerful warrior and the black dragon took to the air upon this command. In the air, a blinding black light flooded the field, obscuring the monsters from view. The light grew in brightness for a moment before descending to the field. Slowly, the light faded, revealing the powerful black dragon with an orange mane with the warrior in black armor on it's back. The warrior swung his sword out to the right and took up an offensive stance while the black dragon roared.

"… my newest Chaos monster! Meet Chaos Emperor Knight – Envoy of Demise (3500/3000)!" Illidan proudly declared.

Staring at the new monster, Viper began to chuckle lowly. "Your monster is impressive Illidan, but unfortunately for you, it is no match for Vennominaga!"

"Think so?" Illidan challenged. "Then you won't mind when I tell you my new monster's effect. You see, when he's first summoned, the number of monsters that were removed from play to summon each of the two halves of my fusion monster are counted up. I removed four to special summon the material monsters. Now I take that total and multiply it by 500, which is how many attack points my monster gains (3500 + 500 4 5500/3000)!"

Instantly, the large dragon with the warrior on it's back let out a mighty roar while the warrior raised his sword and let out a loud yell. The two each glowed with a bright white energy, each seemingly growing stronger than before.

"Fifty-five-hundred attack points!" Viper shouted with wide eyes.

Turning a hand towards the snake deity, Illidan called out "That's right, and my monster is about to unleash all of them on your Vennominaga! Go, blast that snake away with Chaos Stream!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black dragon opened it's jaws and began to build up black energy in it's mouth. Meanwhile, on the dragon's back, the soldier's sword began glowing with white energy. Simultaneously, the dragon shot out a stream of black energy while the soldier fired a white energy stream. The two streams soon twisted together and merged into a spinning solid stream of energy. The new stream drilled into the snake deity, making it howl out in pain before shattering. The remainder of the blast struck Viper hard in the chest, making him scream out in agony before falling to one knee.

Panting on the ground heavily, Viper sneered and arrogantly said "Not bad Illidan Stormrage, but it's all in vain! I play my Vennominaga's special ability! Now I can remove one of her loyal worshippers from my Graveyard and bring her back to the field."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Viper waited for a monster card to slide out. Once it did, he placed it into his removed from play slot. Instantly, the snake deity that had just been destroyed revived onto the field with a hiss.

"And like before, Vennominaga regains her attack points (0 + 500 7 3500/0)!" Viper declared.

Chuckling at this, Illidan smirked and said "Good thing that my monster has another special ability then. Whenever I calculated the number of monsters that had been removed from play earlier, that was so that my monster's second effect could kick in. I take the total I had earlier and divide that by two, and that's the number of times my Chaos Emperor Knight can attack. Last count, I had four, meaning I can attack twice in a turn."

Viper stared wide eyed at Illidan upon this declaration. Seeing it, Illidan lightly sighed and said "Farewell Viper. Finish it now Chaos Emperor Knight. Attack his snake with Chaos Stream!"

Letting out a another stream of black energy, the dragon fired it's blast while the soldier fired a stream of white energy from his sword. The two merged once more and bore through the snake deity, sending her into eternal bliss while the remainder of the blast struck Viper. Howling out in pain, Viper fell to his knees with a heavy panting while his life points drained away.

Falling to his own knee, Illidan began panting heavily while holding his own side. Glancing around, he began to notice something. "_Why haven't the monsters on the field vanished yet? Even in a Shadow Game, once the duel ends, everything vanishes that was in the game, so what's going on?_"

His thoughts were soon interrupted when a portal opened on the side of the field, near the middle. In it, a shadowy figure appeared in the portal. He was in a black haze, not giving away any features at all.

"Viper." the figure sternly said, making Viper flinch physically. "You have failed me. You promised me you would retrieve Illidan's soul and Duel Energy, yet you have failed to deliver both to me."

Cowering, Viper quickly said "Forgive me Master! Give me another chance, I swear I can defeat him!"

"No!" the figure harshly shouted. "Your failure to defeat him has cost you your son's revival, along with your own soul and Duel Energy. Come and give all that you have to the rebirth!"

Without warning, the swamp that Viper was standing on suddenly shot roots out of the ground and wrapped around his legs. Struggling, he tried to stand up, only to have more roots wrap around his shoulders and begin pulling him in. His body began glowing with a bright orange aura, making him cry out. A stream of the aura began to flow into the portal, seemingly vanishing within it for all time. Viper cried out loudly before finally stopping his struggle. He was then pulled into the swamp and vanished beneath it's crimson waters. Once Viper was gone, the swamp and the monsters on the field vanished.

"Viper…" Illidan murmured before glaring at the blurry figure. "Why! Why did you do that to him!?"

"I thought you'd be happy Illidan. After all, it was you who forced him to increase his own Duel Energy to keep up with your anger and fury! He was a mismatch for you, that much is for sure." the figure calmly stated.

Looking away, Illidan mumbled "I didn't want him dead though."

"But you did." the figure protested. "Deny it all you wish, but it was your wish. Soon Illidan, we will meet again, and then you shall fall before my own power. For now, play your silly game and continue this façade known as life."

With those words said, the portal shimmered and began closing. Illidan attempted to stand but fell over onto the ground instead. Pain flared up and down his body, making Illidan growl out from it.

"_No, the venom! It's still spread throughout my body! Damn it, of all times to be incapacitated!_" he growled in his mind.

Suddenly, he noted his breathing was becoming a bit more labored. "_Viper's snakes may have done too much damage to my body. This is bad, very bad!_"

Attempting to reach out with his Shadow Powers, he realized that he couldn't for some reason. Remaining calm, he tried again and again, only to come to one conclusion.

"_That venom, it's breaking my concentration, much like how Legato's poison did the same to Marie._"

Feeling his breathing continuing to be labored, realization hit him. "_I'm… I'm going to die here if I don't get some help._"

Trying to sit up, he immediately figured out that he couldn't. His voice was even seizing up meaning he couldn't call for help. Silently sighing, he attempted to roll over so he could at least be on his back, but again figured out he couldn't move.

Laying with his face against the ground, he closed his eyes and began concentrating on breathing. "_Heh, this isn't the way I figured I'd go out. Marie will have a fit I'm sure. I just wish I had waited on someone now, but I had no choice if I was going to keep up with Viper. I hate that she'll have to raise Arya alone. I'm sure Arya and her will both miss me dearly. At least they'll be safe for now._"

"ILLIDAN!" a series of voices cried out, forcing him to open his eyes. Glancing around, he looked for the source of the voices, but realized his view was pretty much determined to very little.

With a ragged voice, he called out "I'm over here."

Whoever the group was apparently heard him and came running in his direction. From the sound of the footsteps, Illidan determined there were at least four people probably.

Soon enough, he heard someone very close to his position. He made a bit of noise by scrapping his left leg that was still movable. Hearing the noise, one of the group called out "HE'S OVER HERE AND LAYING FACE DOWN!"

The group soon surrounded him. The first person he saw was Marie with tears in her eyes. "ILLIDAN, ILLIDAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" she screamed.

"Yes… you don't have to scream." he sarcastically remarked weakly.

Sighing lightly, she shot back "What's happened to you!?"

"I got poisoned by Viper's snakes. I can't move, and it's a bit hard to breath." he lowly mumbled.

Turning to the group, Marie barked out orders to each. "Jaden, Hasselberry, and Jesse, I want the three of you to help me carry him. Jesse, hold his head; Hasselberry carry his feet; Jaden, you take his left side and I'll carry him from his right side. Time is of the essence, so don't waste any time!"

The group of three boys all nodded and quickly got into position. Gently, the four turned Illidan onto his back. Carefully, the four then lifted him up and began carrying him back to the school.

"You've got to hold on, you hear me Illidan! Don't leave me, that's all I asked and you promised not to, remember!?" Marie sternly said.

In a mere whisper, he mumbled "I won't, I promise."

--

Within thirty minutes, the group managed to carry Illidan to the infirmary. Marie hysterically called for the nurse, who was sitting with Mariah. Hearing the ruckus, the nurse, a woman with red hair that was pinned up in a bun with a single streak of bangs hanging off the left side of her face, wearing an Obelisk Blue Teacher's uniform came to where the group had gathered.

"Nurse Fontaine, thank goodness! It's Illidan, he's been poisoned by some kind of snakes!" Marie hysterically said.

Getting to Illidan's side, Nurse Fontaine placed her palm on Illidan's head, feeling it and finding it to be hot. Looking over his body, she saw multiple wounds, with blood still coming out of a few of them.

"I'll be right back with some anti-venom! It's the strongest I've got, but it should do the trick!" Fontaine said while turning and running to a nearby cabinet.

After rummaging around through the cabinet for a minute, she finally yelled "Aha! There it is!"

Grabbing a bottle, Nurse Fontaine grabbed a nearby needle. Carefully, she sucked out enough to possibly counteract the poison and made sure all the air was out of it. Satisfied, she quickly went back to Illidan's side and found a vein on his right arm. Finding one at last, she injected the anti-venom into his body, making him lightly cringe in pain.

Soothingly, she said "I know, it hurts and probably burns, but this should neutralize the poison. I need to get him to the main hospital to take care of his wounds!"

"Don't worry about them. I just want the poison taken care of." Marie remarked, making Nurse Fontaine turn to Marie in shock.

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME, RIGHT!?" she yelled. "He'll die from those wounds if we don't send him to the hospital!"

"He'll be fine." Marie replied while moving to his right side.

Growling lowly, Nurse Fontaine was about to say something when suddenly she felt her mind becoming fuzzy. Looking to Marie, she saw she was staring at her and her hands were glowing softly black. Her world suddenly came crashing down, much like her body, although Jaden caught her before she hit the floor.

Apologetically, Marie whispered "I'm sorry."

Looking back and forth between Nurse Fontaine and Marie, Jesse asked "What in the world just happened to her, and what did you do!?"

"Forget it for now Jesse." Jaden commanded. "She'll be fine. Marie just knocked her out, right?"

Smiling warmly, while turning to Illidan's side, Marie nodded and said "That's right Jaden. She won't remember a thing about what happened with Illidan."

"Sam Hill, what did you do!?" Hasselberry asked in complete confusion.

"I'll explain it later guys. For now, let's let Marie handle taking care of Illidan." Jaden remarked while gently dragging Nurse Fontaine to a nearby hospital futon near the ground.

After placing her into it, he motioned for Jesse and Hasselberry to follow him. The two hesitated, but after a moment, they finally complied and followed Jaden out the door of the infirmary.

Letting out a low sigh, Marie warmly said "It's just you and me now."

Illidan said nothing, for his eyes were closed and had been before they had arrived at the infirmary. Sadly smiling, she raised her palms and moved them to hover over his chest. Closing her eyes, Marie began concentrating on releasing her healing powers.

In their past lives, Marie had surpassed Illidan rather easily in learning to heal a person, only to be second to Bakura in healing capacities. Still, to achieve this was surprising to most of the Shadow Court in those days, except for Illidan. He had been so proud to see his own student surpass him in healing abilities.

Smiling at the memory, she concentrated on her task at hand. Pouring her healing powers out onto Illidan's body, she quietly began healing his numerous wounds. One by one, they slowly began to close with new skin knitting across the damaged areas.

Though she couldn't replace blood with her powers, she could at least close up the wounds and make sure that his body was fully healed. Finishing up, she let out a small bit of a sigh and took a deep calming breath. Looking down at him fondly, she softly cupped his cheek and smiled sadly down at him.

"You idiot, I wish you hadn't done that tonight. You nearly died, leaving me and Arya alone." she whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes and slowly slid down her cheeks while she added "Without you, what would I do with my life? I need you in it, more than you will ever know."

"I need you in mine too…" Illidan faintly whispered back, making Marie lightly jump back in shock. Looking down at him, she saw his eyes were barely open. His breathing had returned to normal, prompting her to touch his forehead. Finding it was cooling, she softly smiled.

"Your fever has broken, meaning the venom is leaving your system." she quietly remarked. Softly smiling, she asked "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough…"

Wiping the tears off her face, she sniffled and lightly chuckled. "Don't scare me like that. I thought you might actually die."

Apologetically, he whispered "I'm sorry. I'll never leave you. I promised not to, no matter what. You're too important to me to die just yet."

Knowing he was struggling to remain awake, Marie sadly smiled and cupped his cheek and bent down. She placed a light feathery kiss on his lips and then pulled back and smiled once more at his drooping eyes.

"Get some rest." she commanded.

Too tired to disagree, Illidan lightly nodded his head and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he was fast asleep with his chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. Pulling a seat up beside of him, Marie laid her head down onto his chest and soon enough fell to sleep herself.


	10. Chapter 10: Cat Fight

Chapter 10

**Hello again everyone! Well, this week has progressed along nicely. I'm feeling much better today than I did earlier this week. My sinus infection is about gone, which I'm thankful for. I still have a little bit of the residual effects from it, but other than that, I'm doing well with it. I found out my mom and sister are coming in for the weekend next week (not this one, but the following), which is cool. Also, my sister got a job within an hour of me, so that's pretty cool. Ironically, me and my mate have been talking about seeing what happens the rest of this year, and if she doesn't find a job, maybe search out of the state. Heh, like I said, rather ironic in a way, lol. Otherwise, real life is pretty good, other than I've overslept everyday this week for work. I've made it in reasonable time, with exception of one day, but all the others, I've overslept till like 8 or so, and need to be at work by 8:30. (/sighs\) Oh well, I'll get it eventually, I hope, lol. I'm just hopeful that it's due that I've been sick that I have overslept so much. We'll see next week, I suppose.**

**Writing wise, things are progressing. I've been focusing more on **_**MtM**_** than **_**Another**_** this week, but I may switch that soon. Heh, it's a balancing act. But both are moving along nicely. I just hope everyone enjoys both.**

**Last time, Illidan's match with Viper came to a climatic end, with Illidan revealing his newest weapon in his Chaos arsenal, Chaos Fusion, which created his newest Chaos monster, Chaos Emperor Knight – Envoy of Demise, which brought Viper's Vennominaga crashing down. But who is this figure that appeared after the duel in the portal, and what are his/her plans?**

**Alright, moving along, it's Review Time!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, thanks about the surprises. True, I haven't used many original cards throughout my stories, but the last two stories, I decided to throw caution to the wind and do it. Glad you liked the name. The name was created by ardee. True, there could be other Chaos Fusions, you never know. You'll have to wait and find out, hehe. Yeah, Viper didn't play too large a role in this story. He was doing the grunt work, I suppose, lol. True, in the show, once Yubel was done with him, he got the boot to the curb, so perhaps the same thing here, hehe. Glad you liked this chapter and are looking forward to this one. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: True, I feel a little bad for Viper. He didn't kill anyone, but he did attack students ruthlessly, leaving everyone confused and unsure of what he had done to them, so I don't feel too bad either. Maybe if he asked, but doubtful if anyone would willingly give up their Dueling Energy. Yes, whatever it was that took Viper's energy was strange, and his "I know you better than you know" attitude is kind of scary. Lol, yeah, well, the anti-venom thing with Nurse Fontaine was due that she wasn't sure it would work. After all, in real life, snake venom has specific anti-venoms, but she was just going on guess work. Use the strongest to get the best results, lol. Glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, Viper is long gone. Heh, it is kind of sad to lose the guy, but we'll survive. Yes, Illidan is alright, and he has a new Chaos Monster! Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Yep, Viper had Vennominaga attack Illidan twice and nearly take him out, but Illidan did win, lol. Glad you liked the fusion of the Envoys. There could be other combinations of the Chaos monsters, but again, you never know. Maybe it's only the Envoys, or it may not be. I know, very nice playing it low key, lol. But yes, the ending was fun, hehe. Marie had to just finish things off, since she was the better healer there. Very true, oaths sometimes don't play well with Shadow Powers, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Nah, no alternate dimension for them, this time… or maybe ever, lol. I know, quit being confusing! Yes, I liked the original version of what happened to Viper's kid than the one that 4Kids made up… I hate how they said he just got sick and died. I find the kid getting hit by a bus much easier to illustrate, and much easier for people to identify with. Just getting sick, that is not quite as dramatic. But I digress, 4Kids just sucks at making things more 'friendly' for people. They should just let it go sometimes. Yes, I didn't have Viper fall to his death, but getting sucked down into his own swamp may have been worse, lol. I'm feeling much better today. I'm not 100, but I'm probably 80-90 better, which is good. My allergies are always hateful this time of year. I have a doctor's appointment next week, so I'll see what I can do about them then. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Yep, Illidan beat Vennominaga in dramatic fashion with a new Chaos monster. Happy days! Lol, well, what happened to Fontaine is kind of easy to explain. Marie knocked her out with her Shadow Powers and erased her memories of what happened. Kind of a catch-22 to keep from drawing unwanted attention. Hope that helps out. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: True, fan made cards are fun, but I prefer to stick with the actual cards, or show cards. Still, I'm getting into created cards, so fun fun, lol. I do use some of the Anime only cards also. Anyways, glad you liked the chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this round of reviews. I thank you all for each of your responses that you sent in. They each mean a lot to me in helping me with my writing and gauging if I got the point across or not. Heh, sometimes I wonder if I'm just writing in circles, but from the reviews I get, I guess I don't, lol. Thank you all for the reviews again, and if anyone who didn't submit one has a comment or question, please, I do urge you to review or PM me. I will try and answer all comments and questions to the best of my abilities, so long as it's not something pertaining to giving away the plot. At any rate, thank you all for your reviews again.**

**I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 10**

Late the next morning, Illidan finally woke up, finding Marie had done left his side. "_More than likely she went to check up on the students. With only Zane there, anything could happen I suppose._"

Weakly, he sat up out of bed, but grimaced from his sore body. The wounds he had had the night before from his Shadow Game with Viper were healed, but his body was still weakened from blood loss and the venom of Viper's snakes.

Finding a nearby crutch, he slowly hobbled out of the infirmary and started making his way back to his and Marie's home. Finally arriving, at a snail's pace, he found the front door unlocked and entered. Inside, he found Marie playing with Arya. Smiling at the sight, he hobbled on into the house quietly, but was surprised when Marie looked back towards him.

"About time you got home." she grumbled.

Frowning, Illidan replied "I'm still hurt you know. Not like I can walk very fast."

"Whatever." Marie wistfully remarked with a smirk. "Why don't you go rest up? After all, the tournament continues on tonight."

Heavily sighing, Illidan nodded and struggled to make it up to their bedroom. Arriving there with sweat rolling down his face, he fell onto the bed panting heavily. After a few minutes of resting, he straightened himself up so he was laying straight on the bed. Closing his eyes, he called upon his Shadow Powers and set them into motion to allow him to begin a deep healing sleep. Finally ready, he allowed himself to fall into the darkness of sleep.

--

After nearly eight hours of sleeping, Illidan finally awoke with two hours till the evening matches were to begin. Testing out his limbs upon waking, he realized that he still had a little bit of residual effects from the poison, and a slight bit of soreness, but he could walk without a crutch now, which was what he had hoped for.

Going downstairs, he found Marie fast asleep with Arya in her arms. Lightly smiling at the two, he decided not to disturb the two and to clean himself up for the evening.

Taking a long hot shower, Illidan slowly scrubbed away the dirt from the day before. After some time in the shower, he stood very still, just letting the hot steamy water trail down his body. Closing his eyes, he stood there enjoying the water while pondering the previous night's events.

"_Viper mentioned that he had a master. That master is the one pulling the strings, who wanted the Duel Energy for some purpose. What could someone want with Duel Energy, and where is that person? That portal opened at the end, and the person inside had to be Viper's master, but who was it? I couldn't make out the figure due to the portal, plus it was a blurry image. And why do I have the feeling I knew that voice that I heard?_"

Sighing, he glanced downwards at the water draining. "_And whatever happened to Syrus? Surely Viper didn't kill him or do anything to him. It doesn't fit the pattern if he had. And then there is Crowler's disappearance. He just up and vanished too, meaning something happened to both Syrus and Crowler, and it wasn't Viper I think. If it had been, he'd have erased their memories of the duel and took their energy and dumped them off at the dorms._"

"_No, this is different from Viper. Is it possible someone else could have shown up on the island and abducted them? But why those two in specific if they did? It's not like Crowler had any valuable information, nor did Syrus. So why go to the trouble of kidnapping either?_"

Heavily sighing, Illidan reopened his eyes and dipped his head into the warm water once more. Deciding he would think about what was going on later, he shut the shower off and began drying off. After finally blow drying his hair out and dressing, he went downstairs to find Marie still fast asleep, while Arya had her eyes open and was glancing around.

Warmly smiling, he reached down and picked his daughter up into his arms and kissed her forehead, making her giggle. Sitting down next to Marie, he used his one free arm to nudge her, making her mumble in her sleep.

Sighing lightly, he nudged her a little more forcibly this time, softly saying "Marie, wake up."

"Ten more minutes…" she sleepily replied.

"Come dear, you need to get up. The duels start in an hour and a half, and we need to still get Arya ready to take to Tea so she can watch her." Illidan admonished.

Grumbling lowly, Marie opened her chocolate colored eyes and half glared at him. "I know…" she growled.

Watching Marie stretch out, Illidan couldn't help but look at her with lust in his eyes. With a sigh, he pushed it aside and said "Go ahead and get ready. I'll start packing up some stuff to take for Arya."

"Thanks."

With that, Marie headed upstairs towards their bedroom. Setting Arya down in her playpen, Illidan began searching for things to take. After finding some bottles full of milk, diapers, and other essentials, he stuffed them into the diaper bag and grabbed the stroller from nearby and unfolded it. Hanging the diaper bag off of one of the handles, Illidan nodded in satisfaction and returned to Arya.

Finding her in her playpen playing with a few blocks, Illidan softly smiled and watched his daughter with amused eyes. Even in the past, he had always enjoyed watching his children playing, and Arya was no exception. It reminded him in a way of his own father from the past, how he would watch him practice or play from time to time.

Hearing the water stop flowing upstairs, meaning Marie had finished with her shower, Illidan grabbed Arya out of the playpen and carried her with him upstairs. Arriving there, he found Marie in a light blue bra and matching pair of panties with a bit of leopard print on each. Feeling lust stir within him, he softly laid down onto the bed after sitting Arya in her nearby crib.

Grabbing a uniform she had worn the year ago, Marie attempted to slide the skirt up and over her hips, only to find it didn't fit properly and that it was a bit too tight on her. Growling lowly, she grumbled "Damn it, I still don't fit in this freaking thing!"

Suppressing a chuckle, Illidan commented "You look very beautiful though."

"I don't give a damn about your opinion! It's the fact that I lost my figure from last year!" she snarled.

Taken aback, Illidan just laid quietly on the bed while she slid the skirt back off and grabbed a new one from nearby. It fit her much better, this time fitting to her form perfectly. Sitting down onto the bed roughly, she heavily sighed, mumbling "I'm sorry…"

Sitting up and moving to where he was sitting directly behind her, he wrapped his arms around Marie's waist and whispered in her ear "It's alright my love. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"I just wish I had my body back from last year! I gained weight from my pregnancy and can't fit into the same uniform from last year."

Lightly smirking, but quickly dismissing it, Illidan lightly said "I think you look as beautiful as ever. Who cares if you can't wear last year's uniform."

"I do…" Marie dejectedly mumbled. "I guess the only thing I can do is try and work out more."

Pressing his head to her back, Illidan embraced her a bit more. Kissing her neck, he softly said "Don't worry so much about it."

"I know…" she grumbled back. Getting free from his embrace, she stood and sighed. "I guess I need to finish dressing."

"I suppose, unless you like dueling in a bra and skirt." Illidan smartly remarked. "It reminds me of our private duels more than anything."

Laughing, Marie nodded and replied "I don't think the students want to see their headmasters playing a strip match in front of them. Some might, but some might not."

Chuckling at her, Illidan watched while Marie slipped her blouse on. With it on, she walked over and picked Arya up. The little girl instantly reached out for Marie and held on tightly.

"I know baby girl, you don't want me to leave again. It's just for a few hours." Marie soothed.

Standing up himself, Illidan shook his head, lowly saying "You're spoiling her."

Throwing a glare at him, Marie began to say something, but decided against it. Sighing, she slipped on her nearby shoes and left the room with Illidan trailing her. The two made it downstairs, where Marie placed Arya into her stroller. Double checking the diaper bag Illidan had prepared, she nodded and smiled at him.

"Nice job, you got everything in there this time."

"I try." Illidan smartly remarked.

Lightly chuckling at him, she asked "Are you ready?"

"Just got to grab my Duel Disk and then I am. Same for you?"

"Yep." she replied.

Both walked over to the nearby kitchen table and strapped on their Duel Disks. With everything gathered up, the two with Arya set out for Yugi's home.

--

Standing on stage were the eight finalists. Each had just been introduced by Chancellor Shepherd. At long last, the Chancellor cleared his throat and called out "Now then, may I introduce a most honored guest. Welcome the creator of Duel Monsters, Mr. Maximillion Pegasus!"

Walking onto the stage was a man with upper back length silver hair that covered the left side of his face that fell to below his shoulders in length. He had a single brown eye that was viewable and wore a maroon business suit with a black thread like tie in a bow.

Smiling at the eight, Pegasus moved on towards the Chancellor. Illidan watched, somewhat surprised that the creator of the game himself had come to the tournament.

"_Seto must have made this a joint venture. Heh, I bet Pegasus couldn't resist that kind of an offer, although I'm sure Seto wished he had, heh._" he smugly remarked in his mind.

Making it across the stage, Pegasus shook Shepherd's hand before taking the microphone from the Chancellor. Clearing his throat, he called out in a sing-song voice "Ladies and gents, and of course, DUELISTS!"

The last word brought insane cheers from the crowd, earning him a smirk from the eight behind as well. "We're here with eight of the strongest duelists of our time, who have fought their way through the multiple opponents to get to the Final Eight Duels. Of course, most of them require no introduction. At any rate, without further ado, we'll decide who will duel who to win the title of the Duel King!"

The crowd erupted into cheers instantly while rock music exploded in the background of the arena. The song was easily recognized by almost all as 'Kryptonite' by Three Doors Down.

Looking down at Kaiba, Illidan smirked. "_Kaiba is definitely making this a very commercial tournament_."

His thoughts were instantly broken when Pegasus called out "To decide the matches, each duelist must first shuffle their decks."

Each of the eight pulled their decks out of their deck holders and began shuffling quickly. Once all had finished, Pegasus declared "And now, each one draws cards until they reach a monster."

Since Yugi had been announced first, he was up first. He looked at the first two cards, which happened to be spell cards. His next card drawn was his Summoned Skull (2500/1200). The crowd gave deafening roar at the sight of the card before Yugi placed it back within his deck.

Next up, Seto drew and revealed his Vorse Raider (1900/1200). With a smirk, he showed it while the crowd cheered wildly.

Joey was up next and revealed his deadly Red Eyes Black Metal Dragon (2800/2400). Giving a friendly wave to the crowd, he listened to the loud cheers for him.

After Joey was done, Zane drew and revealed his Cyber Dragon (2100/1600), earning a loud roar from the crowd.

Kevin Hunter came next. With a closed set of eyes, he drew his card and smirked at the sight of it. Revealing it to the crowd, he showed he had Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500). He wasn't a very well known duelist, but he had garnered a number of fans during the tournament, which cheered loudly for him nonetheless.

Drawing next was Mai, who held up her Cyber Harpie Lady (1800/1300), earning the screams of many girls from the crowd.

Marie was up after that and picked up a few trap cards at first before picking up her Airknight Parshath (1900/1400), earning her a loud roar from the students in the crowd.

All eyes were on Illidan since he was last. He smiled faintly and grabbed the first card off his deck. Revealing it to be Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (3000/2500), the crowd burst out in a loud cheer. Putting the card back, Illidan felt his dragon's Duel Spirit softly growl.

"_What's wrong?_" he called to the dragon.

In his mind, the dragon appeared and grumbled "_I'm unsure, but something just doesn't feel right._"

"_I'll keep an eye out then._" Illidan commented back before dismissing the dragon from his mind.

Pegasus gave a deep chuckle, which instantly broke Illidan out of his thoughts and returned him to the arena and the task at hand. "Excellent, excellent… Now, allow me to explain the system by which the duels will be decided. The one who drew the monster with the highest attack points will face the one who drew the one with the second highest."

Everyone drew a breath in from the shock. Above the field, a monitor began pairing people up from the results, but Illidan paid no heed.

"_What's going on?_" he pondered. "_Could it be that Viper's master is here? But I couldn't be any of the eight of us, unless this Kevin guy is, but I doubt that. I don't know why, but I can't shake the feeling that something big is going to happen, but why?_"

Feeling a light tug on his jacket, Illidan glanced over to see Marie smiling at him. "Silly, you'd better watch to see who you have to fight." she chastised.

Weakly smiling, he nodded and glanced up at the monitor. After a moment, the monitor flashed to life and revealed the pairings in the following order:

Marie O'Dell Stormrage vs. Mai Valentine Wheeler

Illidan Stormrage vs. Kevin Hunter

Yugi Moto vs. Joey Wheeler

Zane Truesdale vs. Seto Kaiba

Mai cracked her knuckles at the sight of the matches and smirked. Both Marie and Mai exchanged glares with one another before Mai said "This isn't going to end the same way as last time at Tournament of Power."

"We'll see." Marie commented back with a smug look.

Looking over at his opponent, Illidan noted that Kevin was the youngest of the eight finalists, with an age of sixteen. He was about five foot eight, and had long blonde bangs. He wore a silver t-shirt, covered by a black leather jacket with blue jeans that hovered over his feet. On his wrist, he wore a new Duel Disk, a DD3, and had the quiet dignity of a seasoned duelist, considering his age.

Staring at the monitor in shock, Joey began moaning at his matchup with a dejected voice. "For once, just for once I'd like to have an easy opponent! In Duelist Kingdom, I ended up against Yugi. Battle City wasn't much better since I ended up dueling Marik. Then in Tournament of Power, I had to face Illidan, Yugi and Kaiba."

Giving Joey a sympathetic look, Yugi warmly said "Well, you're among the top five duelists on the planet. I'm quite sure that you have as much of chance of winning this duel as I do."

Brightening a bit, Joey replied "Yeah! Don't forget it either Yugi, I'm going to give this one everything!"

Zane and Seto gave one another a cold disdained look, with Zane quietly saying "Well, Mr. Kaiba, it seems like we'll be dueling each other."

"Yeah right, if you can call what's going to happen a duel." Seto smugly remarked, making Zane's jaws tighten.

Making a motion for everyone to move, Pegasus declared "Alright, everyone but Marie and Mai clear the field! As for the competitors, prepare to duel!"

Illidan gave Marie a light peck on the cheek and whispered "Good luck."

"Thank you." she warmly remarked.

Across the field, Joey did the same with Mai and whispered lowly "Don't get too carried away and lose your temper Mai. Remember, this is Marie, who can turn that against you."

Smugly looking at Joey, Mai remarked "Don't worry hun, I'll be fine."

Nodding, Joey lightly kissed her once more and walked off the field, leaving on the two female duelists and Pegasus alone on it. Pegasus smiled while looking between the two and stepped off the stage.

Noting the two were ready, Pegasus called out "Duelists! Let the first duel of the Final Eight Duels of the Genex Tournament commence! Mai Valentine Wheeler vs. Marie O'Dell Stormrage! Begin!"

The two women simultaneously activated their Duel Disks and yelled "LET'S DUEL!"

Drawing her first card, Marie smiled while hearing the crowd hold it's breath in anticipation. Grabbing two cards from her hand, she placed two cards into her Spell/Trap Slot and said "I place these two cards down and end my turn. (Marie 8000, Mai 8000)

Illidan, along with almost everyone that knew Marie, nearly fell over in anime style at her move. With a nervous laugh, Yugi asked "No monsters?"

"_That's not like Marie at all. She almost always plays some kind of monster in defense or attack mode. What kind of strategy does she have up her sleeve I wonder?_" Illidan pondered.

Seemingly calm and collected, Marie smiled while watching the turmoil on Mai's face be exposed. Lightly growling, Mai drew her card and hotly said "You won't fool me with your mind games! I summon Cyber Harpie Lady (1800/1300) to the field!"

A hybrid creature, that looked part human, but had nasty, long claws, long red hair, and two large wings attached to her arms appeared. The woman wore hard platinum armor that protected her chest and other parts and let out a harsh cry.

"Attack her directly!" Mai declared. Nodding lightly, the bird woman leapt to the air and came slashing downwards towards Marie.

With a light smirk, Marie pointed at her face down card and called out "I activate my trap Draining Shield, which negates your monster's attack and adds it's attack points to my life points."

Mai's eyes widened as the bird woman struck a golden barrier. The barrier instantly sent a stream of golden energy to Marie's Duel Disk, causing her life point meter to increase a bit.

Gnashing her teeth together, Mai growled out "Damn, I end my turn." (Marie 9800, Mai 8000)

Picking up a new card, Marie lightly chuckled and slapped a monster card to her Duel Disk. "I summon Herald of Purple Light (300/500)."

Appearing onto the field was a small purple ball like creature with purple wings, hands, and feet. It's body glowed brightly with purple light, making it hard to keep eyes on it.

"Next, I activate my face down spell, Enemy Controller. By sacrificing Herald of Purple Light, I get to take control of Cyber Harpie Lady!"

The small ball of purple light instantly vanished while a game controller appeared onto the field. The end of the cord went shooting straight across and plunged into the back of the bird lady, making it screech loudly. After a moment, it was jerked over to Marie's field and took up an offensive stance, much to Mai's surprise.

"Attack her directly!" Marie commanded instantly. With hesitation, the female bird lady launched into the air and came down hard onto Mai with her claws, making Mai grab her chest from the strike.

Upon the monster returning to Marie's field, Marie took a card from her hand and showed Mai, saying "I play the spell Mystik Wok, allowing me to sacrifice Cyber Harpie Lady and add her attack points to my life points!"

Mai gasped in shock while watching one of her favorite monsters vanished from the field and Marie's life points climbed once again.

"I end my turn." (Marie 11600, Mai 6200)

Witnessing Mai's anger on her face, Joey softly said to Illidan "She's really pissed now. I don't think Marie should have played those mind games with her."

"I'm guessing Marie was trying to knock her off balance, but this isn't how she plays normally. I think this is a new strategy, if I had to guess." Illidan remarked.

"Still, Mai won't go easy on her now." Joey replied. "She'll tear Marie to pieces this turn, if she can think straight that is."

"Yeah…" Illidan mumbled.

On the field, Mai furiously drew her card and glared at Marie. "You won't make a fool out of me again! You may have double my life points, but I'll beat you!"

"Then come do it." Marie smugly commented.

Grinding her teeth together, Mai slapped her monster card to her Duel Disk and declared "I summon Harpie Lady (1300/1400)!"

A female bird woman, somewhat like the previous one, appeared onto the field, but was wearing a skin tight purple jumpsuit that formed well to her body. On her arms were wings of that of a bird's, with razor sharp talons on her feet, and long red hair.

"Direct attack her life points!" Mai declared angrily.

The new creature leapt forward and glided towards Marie with her razor sharp claws ready to slash at her.

Smiling, Marie took a card from her hand and placed it into her Graveyard Slot. "Sorry Mai, but I discard Kuriboh, allowing me to reduce all Battle Damage to zero."

A small brown fur ball creature with huge yellow eyes and green clawed hands and feet appeared before Marie. The bird woman slashed at Marie, only to strike the hairball creature instead, leaving Marie unfazed.

Swearing under her breath, Mai growled out "I end my turn." (Marie 11600, Mai 6200)

Picking up a card, Marie showed it to Mai, saying "I play Card of Sanctity! This spell let's us each draw till we hold six cards."

Quietly, Marie drew three cards while Mai drew none. Looking her cards over, Marie smiled and said "It's over for you Mai."

With a bewildered look, Mai hotly asked "What are you talking apart!? I still have 6200 life points left!"

"You'll see soon enough. First, I play the spell Monster Reborn to revive my Kuriboh (300/200)!" Marie declared.

The small brown hairball creature instantly reappeared onto Marie's field and let out a 'Kree' sound.

"Next comes the spell Cost Down! I discard a card from my hand to reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two, till the end of the turn."

Mai looked at her oddly while Marie placed a card into her Graveyard Slot, asking "You're sacrificing your Kuriboh then, aren't you?"

"Exactly!" Marie replied. "Cost Down takes my level seven monster and makes it a level five, so I'd like to introduce you to Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin (2300/2000)!"

Immediately, the fur ball creature vanished only to cause a blinding white light to fill the field. As the light died down, a new angel, this one looking like a powerful warrior touched down onto the field. He had massive white wings that were held to his back with an orange and blue set of bindings, a pair of strong legs that were covered with a flowing white battle skirt, and on each arm were massive sharp blades. His body was covered in bold armor that also covered parts of the blades. The chest area of the warrior was covered in grey and blue armor, and his head had a new helmet to cover his entire face.

"Twenty-three hundred?" Mai wearily asked. "It isn't exactly enough to end the duel, now is it?"

Smirking, Marie replied "Trust me on this when I say it's over. I play the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

A slot on the end of Marie's Duel Disk instantly shot open, allowing her to place the card into it. The slow quickly shut and her Duel Disk instantly glowed with a rainbow colored energy. Immediately, the scenery began to change as a blue sky with large white fluffy clouds appeared and a large stone building appeared behind Marie.

"Thanks to the power of my field spell, one of Neo-Parshath's effects kicks in. Whenever I have Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, he gains attack and defense points equal to the difference between our life points."

Mai gasped in realization to what Marie had meant when she had said it was over. Seeing Mai knew, Marie softly said "I have 11600 life points, compared to your 6200. The difference is 5400 (2300 + 5400 7700/2000 + 5400 7400)."

Mai immediately lowered her head, allowing her blonde bangs to hide her face while the warrior on the field glowed with a brilliant white glow.

"An attack from me will end this duel right now." Marie quietly explained.

The crowd all was in shock at the results. None had ever seen Marie defeat someone so fast, especially someone at the caliber of Mai.

"Poor Mai…" Joey lightly said.

Looking at Marie, Illidan mumbled in his mind "_So that was her strategy. Quite clever my dear._"

Softly smiling at Mai, Marie kindly said "Mai, I know how much your Harpie Lady means to you. It's the card closest to your heart, and I respect that and would never want to insult your relationship with that card by destroying it. Don't make me do such a horrible thing to the two of you. Please, Mai, just surrender the duel."

Watching the turmoil running through Mai's face, Marie bit her lip. "_I can only hope she listens to me. She's so proud, if not a bit too proud, and I know it would be hard to let a duel go, but I'd rather not have to do something this drastic. Maybe she'll surrender, but I doubt it._"

After a moment of thinking it over, Mai heavily sighed and looked to Marie with violet eyes full of resolve. With a slow motion, she moved her hand over her deck and quietly said "You're right. I surrender."

The audience instantly burst into cheers of awe and excitement from the reply. All of the holograms on the field quickly began to disappear, leaving only Mai and Marie. Walking to the middle, the two met and shook hands, which turned into a hug. Smiling at one another, the two women walked off the stage.

Pegasus quickly moved to the center of the stage and happily said "That's what real dueling is all about! Marie Stormrage advances to the semi-finals!"

The crowd cheered once more while the monitor with the duels corrected itself, showing Marie advanced and Mai would not.

Glancing at the monitor himself, Illidan noted that if he won his duel, he'd face Marie in the semi-finals. "_Heh, that would be quite a duel. But first thing is first, I have to take care of Kevin... Not to mention, try and figure out what I felt earlier._"

Seeing Marie was approaching, Illidan stood and hugged her, giving her a light kiss on the cheek at the same time. "You did well." he commented, earning a smile from her.

"Thanks." she simply remarked.

Noting Joey was consoling Mai on her loss, Illidan smiled weakly. Seeing this, Marie asked "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… We just need to meet with Yugi and Kaiba tonight to discuss something."

Nodding in reply, Marie was about to say something else when Pegasus's voice boomed over the airwaves instead. "Ladies and Gents, now that the first duel is over, we move on to our next duel! It pits one of my old friends, Illidan Stormrage, against the up and coming young man from the Pro League, Kevin Hunter! Duelists, come on down!"

Knowing he had to go, Illidan kissed Marie lightly and walked towards the stage with her calling out "Good luck!"

Smiling and nodding back at her, Illidan went to the stage where Pegasus and Kevin awaited. With Illidan arriving, Pegasus twirled the microphone and spoke once more into it, saying "This will be one of the best duels everyone has seen in ages, that much I guarantee!"

Turning to the two, Pegasus smiled and walked over to Illidan. Switching the microphone off, he said "Why hello again Illi-boy!"

Groaning at the nickname Pegasus had made up for him, Illidan grit his teeth and calmed himself. After a moment of calming down, he replied "Hello Pegasus."

In a mere whisper through his Shadow Powers, Pegasus said "_Good luck. This Kevin kid is rather strong._"

Smirking, Illidan replied mentally "_So I've heard._"

"_Be on guard. I'd hate to see you lose, Illi-boy._"

Lightly growling with annoyance, Illidan bit his tongue to keep from replying. Seeing he wouldn't get a response, Pegasus called out through the microphone "Duelists, shuffle your decks and move into position!"

Both Illidan and Kevin grabbed their decks and began shuffling. Finishing up, each placed their decks within their slots in their Duel Disks. Walking to the opposite ends of the field, each simultaneously turned to face one another.

"I hope you're not going to be too disappointed when you lose this duel." Kevin commented smugly.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan replied "I wouldn't get too confident yet."

Moving off the stage, Pegasus called out "This second round is Illidan Stormrage vs. Kevin Hunter! Duelists, you may begin!"

Each drew five cards, shouting out "Duel!"


	11. Chapter 11: Second Round, Pt 1

**Hey everybody! (/Hears crowd shout back "Hey Doctor Nick!"\) Well, this weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, I was somewhat bored, but put a bookshelf together that my mate and I bought last week. It turned out nice, so now my mate has somewhere to put all of her books. Happy day! I also found out about my mate not being able to go on vacation at the end of July, which sucked. She waited too long to ask for the time off, and now we can't go with my family, but it's cool. We rescheduled to go in August though, so it's all good. Other than that, not too much is new. Me and my mate went to see **_**Iron Man**_** last night, which I must admit, was rather good. They did an excellent job on the movie, and the character for playing Iron Man/Tony Stark, Robert Downy, Jr., was an excellent choice. But the movie was great, and I definitely recommend it to everyone who hasn't seen it yet.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along. Work on **_**MtM**_** is a little slow due that ardee is on a short term vacation, but it's all good. Also, I'm continuing to work on **_**Another**_**, which my mate loves. I really like working on it also, but I wish to finish up this series at the same time.**

**Also, I've received questions about what I'll be doing once this story is over. Truthfully, I'm unsure at the moment. I have been requested to work on another collaboration with ardee, which I may do, but I also have other projects that I may work on. I have ideas for other stories, a possible sequel to **_**Another**_**, and other things, but I've yet to decide. I do wish to finish some, if not all, of my one-shots first thing once I finish both of my current stories. But in the meantime, eh, I don't know. Like I said, it's all up in the air at the moment. But by no means am I retiring or quitting writing, so no one worry about that. I know I've had people ask me that, lol. Honestly, as long as I can still imagine up stories, I'm more than happy to write forever. So, here's hoping that I continue to come up with good ideas that can translate into a story.**

**Last time, Illidan awoke and returned home with very few remaining effects from the previous night's duel. The final eight duelists have now been paired off, with Marie facing off with an old rival in the form of Mai Wheeler. Marie made quick work of Mai, but gave her friend a respectful ending to the duel. Now Illidan faces off with Kevin Hunter, a newcomer with who knows what in his deck. Will Illidan win, or will he be too distracted by his thoughts of what he felt earlier that evening?**

**And now, it's time once more for the reviews!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Yeah, poor Mai lost like she did against Yugi in Duelist Kingdom. I was kind of after that type of nostalgia for the duel. Glad you can't wait to see Illidan and Kevin go at it, or wait to see Zane and Seto. Heh, you never know with Seto if he'll win or lose against Zane. it's all up in the air. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthala-Mental: Yeah, things could have been worse for Mai. At least Marie gave her the option of surrendering, which was kind of her. Yes, Illidan vs. Kevin, OC vs. OC should be interesting, lol. LOL! Yes, Seto's comments were classic against Zane. He's always been smug and thought he was better, but whether he can backup his words or not is yet to be seen in that duel. He may win, you never know. Heh, something is going to happen, that is for sure. When though, you never know, hehe. I'm sneaky like that. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yes, the duel was rather short. Glad you liked the chapter. Cool about making cards to get people into the fray. I usually play custom cards only due that it's needed, well, sometimes, hehe. That sucks that people aren't as into your story. It happens though. Some people lose interest, which sucks, but it happens. But I'm sure people will return, so no worries. Heh, I know how it feels to be concerned that you're not getting many reviews. I have those feelings on **_**Another**_**, but then I remember I'm breaking into a new field with it, and no one knows what to expect, so I use that to keep me calm about it. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Heh, yeah, Marie hasn't lost her touch, but it is kind of sad to see Mai lose like that too. She did only play a few cards, which sucks for her, but she'll be alright. She always is. Yep, Illidan and Kevin are dueling here and now, so things should be fun. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yeah, Marie defeated Mai quickly, but cleanly and fairly. Yep, Illidan vs. Kevin is about to come up. It maybe long, you never know, hehe. Stop doing what? Well, I might stop doing it… if I remember what it was I did, lol. Yep, episode 142 aired. Eh, I didn't like that they cut out the scenes from the beginning. Rather cruel to not show Aster and Zane beating the crap out of the King's soldiers. I was sad to not see it, plus sad to not see what happened with Skull Knight when he lost. You know he fell from the window to the ground and was revealed to be Ancient Brain, but they didn't shot it, which truly sucks. But now it's going to be interesting to see how much of Axel's duel is saved. I figure part of it won't make it... Just knowing 4Kids… At any rate, thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all the reviews. Thanks to all that sent them in. I appreciate each and every one of them. They're very helpful in gauging how well the story is liked and what I need to change, so thank you again. Thanks once more for the reviews, and I hope to see many of you again in the next set. Remember, I enjoy comments and questions, and am always happy to answer them, so feel free to review or PM them to me.**

**Also, I need to put a special thanks sign out. I kind of forgot to recently, but here it is. Special thanks to ardee for all his help and the addition of his character Darren, and to ****Blue-Eyes White Knight-BEWK ****for the use of his character, Kevin Hunter.**

**I think that's about it for this round, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and until next time, later!**

**Chapter 11**

Drawing his sixth card, Kevin quietly said "I'll begin our little match, if you don't mind."

"Works for me." Illidan nonchalantly replied.

Grabbing a card from his left hand, Kevin placed it onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Troop Dragon (700/800) in defense."

Materializing onto the field in a crouching one knee stance was a green dragon warrior with a sword in his left hand and a shield in his right. The dragon wore brown armor with a silver round chest plate. On the dragon's back were two wings that were furled inwards.

"I place a card face down to end my move." (Kevin 8000, Illidan 8000)

Drawing a card calmly, Illidan slapped it to his Duel Disk, calling out "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)."

Rising up onto the field was a silver dragon that looked more like a large silver bird. It had large silver wings for arms that were tucked in and large talons on it's feet.

Pointing at the weaker green dragon, Illidan declared "Horus, take down Troop Dragon with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a loud screech, the silver dragon opened it's jaws and fired a stream of black flames. The flames incinerated the weaker dragon easily, leaving nothing behind.

Smirking at the result of the battle, Kevin smugly said "Thank you Illidan for taking out my dragon. Now I can play his effect! When Troop Dragon is destroyed in battle, I get to special summon a new one to my field, which I place in defense (700/800)."

Appearing onto the field instantly was a new green dragon warrior in a hunched over position with it's shield protectively protecting it.

Slightly smirking at the move, Illidan calmly said "I place two cards face down and move to my End Phase. Here, I can activate Horus's special ability! Since he destroyed a monster in battle, he can evolve to his next level, so rise up Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Aiming it's head at the ground, the silver dragon released a stream of black flames at the ground, which instantly engulfed it completely. After a moment, silver metal wings poked out of the flames, along with an eagle like head. With strong wing beats, the new creature pulled itself out of the flames, revealing that the silver dragon had metamorphosed from a smaller dragon into a dragon that looked very much like a predatory bird with a long silver tail. Landing onto the field, the dragon let out a screech.

"Back to you, Kevin." (Kevin 8000, Illidan 8000)

Picking up a new card, Kevin smirked and said "Interesting that you have some dragons in your deck, but allow me to show you how a true dragon master duels! I play Pot of Greed! This spell allows me to draw two more cards!"

Snapping off two cards from the top of his deck, Kevin grinned great big. "You're in for a world of hurt now. I activate the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse Lord of Dragons (1200/1100) with Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000) to create King Dragun (2400/1200)!"

A man wearing black dragon armor with a black cape appeared onto the field first. Next to the man appeared a pink glowing dragon with a long snake like body and a pink energy mane. The two immediately swirled together, forming a dark red light. From the light appeared a creature with a long snake like body with a pair of dragon legs, and at the top where the head should be was half of the man that had been on the field, except now with a pink mane surrounding his shoulders and a pair of black wings. His armor was now golden colored and gleamed in the arena lights while he held a golden dragon shaped flute in his right hand.

Staring at the monster, Illidan bit his lip lightly. "_Things are not looking good for me._"

"Allow me to show you what King Dragun can do. Once per a turn, I can special summon a Dragon Type monster from my hand, so I pick my mighty Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

Roaring onto the field was a dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around it's face, and a strong tail.

Hearing a sharp gasp from the crowd, Kevin smirked and slapped another card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon up next my Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!"

A sapphire dragon with strong powerful arms and legs, bone like wings, and ruby colored eyes appeared onto the field with a small roar.

"Finally, I switch Troop Dragon into attack mode!"

Standing up, the small green dragon warrior rose up and stretched out his arms. With a low growl, he moved his sword into a ready to attack stance.

"Here I come Illidan! Tyrant Dragon, attack his Horus the Black Flame Dragon with Tyrant Flame!" Kevin commanded.

Flapping it's mighty wings, the powerful dragon rose up above the field and fired a stream of flames straight at the weaker silver dragon.

Watching the blast coming, Illidan pointed at a face down and called out "I play the spell Shrink, so watch as your Tyrant Dragon's attack points are cut in half!"

The spell card instantly shot a beam of energy at the mighty orange dragon, only to strike a dark purple barrier instead, which shattered the spell card instantly.

Shocked, Illidan asked "What happened!?"

"I forgot to mention that Dragun has another effect." Kevin nonchalantly replied. "While on the field, all Dragon Type monsters are unaffected by spell, trap, or monster effects that specifically target them. Since you specifically targeted Tyrant Dragon, it's negated."

"That means…" Illidan began, but didn't get to finish due that the stream of flames from the mighty orange dragon struck the silver dragon, making him cover his face from the heat.

"With nothing on your field, you're wide open!" Kevin smugly declared.

Smirking lightly while lowering his arm, Illidan replied "Not necessarily. I play a trap, Call of the Haunted! Now I can return to my field my Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Reappearing instantly onto the field was the silver dragon, which let out a loud roar once on the field.

Sneering at the monster, Kevin said in a sing-song voice "Did you forget about Tyrant Dragon's effect? If he attacks once and there is a monster still on the field, he can attack a second time. Go, teach him to remember that Tyrant Dragon with Tyrant Flame!"

Roaring loudly, the dark orange dragon fired a new stream of flames directly at the silver dragon. The flames incinerated the silver dragon easily, making it screech in pain before shattering.

Glaring at Kevin, Illidan snarled in his mind at his error. "_I should have known better! Damn, I'm so concerned with Viper's master that I'm playing sloppy!_"

Taking a calming breath, he closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. Finding his center, he reopened his eyes, revealing a calm expression.

"You won't be so calm once I take out a chunk of your life points!" Kevin boasted. "King Dragun, attack directly with Fire Scorch!"

Aiming his dragon flute at Illidan, the mighty combination creature fired a stream of flames from the flute. Illidan stood firm against the blast while crossing his arms to shield against the attack. The blast was soon over, leaving Illidan panting lightly.

"Think that was bad, wait till Luster Dragon and Troop Dragon direct attack! Go Ruby Blaster and Dragon Sword Slash!"

Opening it's jaws, the sapphire dragon shot a sphere of ruby energy at Illidan, hitting him square on, making him cry out in pain. The dragon warrior then came rushing in and slashed Illidan across the chest, making him cry out once more and fall to one knee, panting heavily.

"I think I'll place end the punishment for now. Do you have the strength to continue on Illidan?" (Kevin 8000, Illidan 1800)

"Great Scott, Professor Illidan took a pummeling that round!" Bastion declared.

Looking at her fallen uncle, Mariah calmly said "He's not done yet."

"Still, he took a pretty rough shot. I don't know about ya'll, but I think he maybe down for the count." Jesse input.

Shaking his head, Jaden replied "No way Jesse. You don't know Illidan like I do. He'll never give up, and he won't quit, no matter what you do to him. I should know, since I dueled him before."

"But he has nothing left on the field. There's almost no way he can make a comeback after a series of attacks like that." Axel commented.

Lightly grunting, Chazz muttered "Typical, our teacher is going to lose."

"Don't give up on him yet Chazz." a young girl near him said. She had long dark blue hair that reached her mid-back, brown eyes, and was younger than the others. She wore a black skirt with black boots that came halfway up her calves, a yellow blouse and a red open vest.

"Blair's right guys, have some faith in Commander Stormrage!" Hasselberry commanded.

"Yeah, quit thinking he won't win." Alexis piped up. "He won't quit till the duel is over!"

Hearing the students, Marie lightly smiled but returned a concerned look to the field. She watched her husband panting heavily, pondering if he could find a way out of the mess he was in. "_Come on Illidan, don't give up yet. You can win this, I know it. Now get up and fight!_"

On the field, Illidan slowly rose up and finally caught his breath. A smile instantly appeared on his face, leaving Kevin with a puzzled look.

"Why are you smiling?" Kevin asked, unsure of what Illidan was thinking.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan replied "Just thinking about how tough this duel is. It's been a while since I got hammered like that. I'll just have to make up for it this turn."

Grabbing a new card, Illidan placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I play the spell Premature Burial, allowing me to give up 800 life points while bringing back my old friend, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Roaring onto the field once more was the silver dragon.

"Let's get down to business! Horus, take out Troop Dragon with Darkness Flame!"

Letting out a loud screech, the silver dragon opened it's jaws and sent a stream of black flames straight at the weaker dragon warrior. It could do nothing but stand there and howl in pain once the flames burnt it to a crisp. After shattering, Kevin cringed lightly from the pain he felt from the blowback effect.

Growling lightly, Kevin pointed to his face down card, calling out "Not bad, but I play a trap! It's called Dragon's Hiding Spot, which allows me to take a specific field spell from my deck and put it into play whenever one of my dragons are destroyed."

Pulling his deck out, he searched through it till he found it and then placed his deck back into it's slot after shuffling. Tapping the end of his Duel Disk, Kevin forcefully slapped the card in, saying "I activate the field spell Sanctuary of the Dragons!"

Instantly, the field began changing with wide open blue sky appearing. Statues of several dragons appeared surrounding Kevin and his monsters, making each dragon lightly growl out.

"I'll explain this card soon enough to you." Kevin smugly commented. "In the meantime, I activate Troop Dragon's effect and special summon another one from my deck (700/800)."

Appearing on the field in a crouched position was another dragon warrior.

Shrugging, Illidan placed two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots, saying "No matter. I set one card face down and play the spell Future Fusion! With this, I can take monsters from my deck and place them into my Graveyard that can form a Fusion Type monster."

Grabbing his deck, Illidan sifted through it till he found the correct cards and placed all three into his Graveyard Slot, which easily sucked them all in.

"The three I picked were my Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), meaning in two of my Standby Phases, I can bring out my Cyber End Dragon. Still, it'll take a few turns, so be thankful you have some time. I move to my End Phase and activate Horus's special ability. Since he destroyed a monster, he evolves once more to Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

Flames instantly spewed from the silver dragon's jaws towards the ground, forming a sphere of dark flames around it's body. Slowly, silver metallic looking wings shot out of each side, then a silver tail, followed by a set of silver legs and clawed hands. The flames finally dissipated till the head and main body of the dragon was visible, which let out a massive roar, making most of the other dragons quiver lightly.

"Your move Kevin." (Kevin 6400, Illidan 1000)

Cheering on Illidan, Hasselberry loudly said "That's the way Commander! Take no prisoners!"

"That was a sweet move!" Jaden commented excitedly.

"Hos is well on his way to a victory now!" Jesse added.

Looking carefully at Kevin's field, Bastion carefully said "Professor Stormrage isn't out of the woods yet. He has a lot of work ahead of him before he wins."

"Yeah…" Mariah mumbled thoughtfully.

Back on the field, Kevin lightly smirked and calmly said while picking up a card "Nicely done there Illidan, but I don't expect anything less of you. After all, you're ranked rather highly in the Pro League, plus you're regaled for your excellent tactician skills."

"Why thank you, but I know you're no pushover either." Illidan remarked.

Smirking, Kevin nodded and replied "So very true, and I'll show you why soon enough. In the meantime, I play my King Dragun's effect! Now I can special summon a Dragon Type monster, and I pick my Luster Dragon #2 (2400/1400)!"

Rising up onto the field was an emerald colored dragon with powerful wings, clawed hands, feet, and a tail. The dragon let out a soft roar, as if trying to look intimidating.

"And now, it's time to wipe you out! Go Luster Dragon, attack Horus with Ruby Blaster!" Kevin commanded.

The entire crowd, along with Illidan, all gasped in shock while watching the sapphire dragon open it's jaws, revealing ruby energy within it's mouth. The energy began forming a ruby colored fireball, and without warning, the weaker dragon shot the blast towards the strong silver dragon.

Confused, Illidan asked "Why are you attacking me with your Luster Dragon? It's too weak!"

Smirking, Kevin confidently replied "You're right, it is in a fair fight, but my Sanctuary of the Dragons isn't exactly making things even. I guess it's time I explained it. Whenever one of my dragons battle with one of your monsters during my turn, the two monsters' levels are checked. If yours has more stars, then the difference is calculated and multiplied by 300. The total is then added to my dragon's attack points."

Letting out a soft gasp, Illidan mumbled "Meaning…"

"Meaning," Kevin broke in, "my Luster Dragon is about to get stronger! Horus has eight stars while Luster Dragon has four, making a difference of four. That's multiplied by 300 and means my dragon gains 1200 more attack points (1900 + 4300 3100/1600)!"

The ruby fireball instantly glowed with more power while rushing towards the now weaker silver dragon, which lightly screeched in worry.

Lightly growling, Illidan pointed to his face down card, calling out "Not happening, for I play the trap Waboku! This trap reduces all Battle Damage to zero and saves my monster, plus it doesn't specifically target, so you're out of luck!"

Appearing in front of the silver dragon were three female mages in blue robes. Each began chanting lightly, creating a barrier before the dragon. The ruby fireball struck the barrier hard, causing a large explosion filled with smoke, but slowly from the smoke, the silver dragon was seen standing.

Grunting with irritation, Kevin calmly said "I end my turn." (Kevin 6400, Illidan 1000)

"That was close…" Alexis lowly mumbled.

Nodding, Jaden added "You got that right, but Illidan is still hanging in there."

"If he lasts another turn, he'll have his mighty Cyber End Dragon. That will turn the tide of this battle." Bastion stated.

"Yeah, but he has to make it through Kevin's next turn. He barely made it out alive this past turn. Guys, I hate to admit it, but I don't think Illidan has what it takes." Adrian admitted.

Glaring at Adrian, Mariah coldly said "My uncle is stronger than you think. Just watch, he'll win."

The remainder of the group returned their attention to the field while Marie stared off towards Illidan. "_Come on, you can do this. I know you can._"

Drawing his new card, Illidan smirked at it and turned it towards Kevin. "I'll begin by playing my Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards."

Picking up two new ones, Illidan softly smirked once more. "I'll set one card face down and set a monster. Horus, attack his King Dragun with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver dragon opened it's jaws and shot a black stream of flames at the weaker combination monster. The blast easily incinerated the creature, leaving the four dragons behind.

"Don't forget Kevin, next turn is when Future Fusion fully activates, so just you wait. I end my move." (Kevin 5400, Illidan 1000)

Glaring at Illidan, Kevin drew his card and smugly said "You won't have a next turn. I'm ending this duel, right here and now! I sacrifice Troop Dragon in order to summon my mighty White-Horned Dragon (2200/1400)!"

Vanishing from the field in a light glow was the weaker green dragon warrior, but in it's place appeared a powerful red dragon with a sharp white horn sticking out of it's head. It had powerful clawed hand and feet, a long tail, and mighty wings on it's back that were black on the inside. Landing on the field, the dragon opened it's jaws, revealing sharp teeth and let out a loud roar.

"My dragon may not look like much at the moment, but wait till his ability kicks in. I can now select up to five spell cards from your Graveyard, and then have them removed from play. For each one removed, my dragon gains 300 attack points. Now then, I know for a fact you've only played three spell cards thus far, so remove Shrink, Premature Burial, and Pot of Greed!"

Growling, Illidan watched while all three of his spell cards slid out of his Graveyard Slot and then picked the three up and placed them into his removed from play slot. With them put away, the red dragon roared loudly while it's horn glowed brightly.

"With three spell cards removed from play, that means White-Horned Dragon gains 900 more attack points (2200 + 3 300 3100/1400)! And that's more than enough to wipe out Horus, so go take him down with Slicing Horn Strike!"

Roaring loudly, the mighty red dragon flapped it's wings a few times before flying straight towards the weaker silver dragon.

With only a few feet to spare, Kevin yelled "By the way, my field spell also increases my dragon's points even more since there is a difference of two stars between them (3100 + 2 300 3700/1400)!"

The red dragon's horn only glowed brighter once more. Without warning, the dragon quickly sliced through the weaker silver dragon's body, making it howl in pain before exploding into millions of pieces.

Smirking at his handiwork, Kevin turned his right hand towards his dark orange dragon, saying "Tyrant Dragon, eliminate his face down monster with Tyrant Flame!"

Roaring loudly, the powerful dragon opened it's jaws and shot a stream of red hot, searing flames at the horizontal card image. The image instantly glowed with the flames nearing, revealing a black stream engine with grey puffy smoke pouring out of it's chimney. It had a strange, evil looking face painted on the front of it, with fangs poking out of it's mouth and an evil set of eyes.

"Thanks for attacking my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000)! When he's flipped up, I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck." Illidan admonished while picking up a card.

"Big deal, it's still going to lose this battle!" Kevin snarled.

The flames instantly struck the locomotive, making it begin to melt before shattering completely. Sneering at the carnage, Kevin smugly said "It's time to end this Illidan! Finish him off Luster Dragon with Ruby Blaster!"

Opening it's jaws to reveal ruby energy, the dragon spat a ruby colored fireball straight for Illidan, aiming to put him down once and for all.

Seeing the oncoming blast, Illidan pointed at his face down card, calmly saying "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you Kevin, but I'm not going anywhere! I play the trap known as Elemental Absorber!"

Materializing onto the field was a small contraption that hovered on a single spike, looked much like an upside down roulette table with four spikes on the top of it.

"This trap is a very nice one, for if I remove a monster from my hand, it can negate attacks by monsters with the same Attribute that I removed. Guess what, I have a certain Attribute monster in my hand that will negate the last of your monsters! I remove from play my Armed Dragon LV10, who is obviously a Wind Attribute monster!"

Placing the card into his removed from play slot, Illidan pointed at the metallic contraption and said "Sorry, but no way you're getting through! Go Elemental Absorber, negate his attack!"

Spinning rapidly, the strange machine finally stopped and a single spike on it began glowing with green energy. Just as the blast of ruby energy was about to hit Illidan, a fierce wind blew up, forming what looked like a barrier in front of him. The ruby fireball instantly fizzled out and completely vanished.

Clenching his right hand tightly while gnashing his teeth, Kevin ground out "I end my move." (Kevin 5400, Illidan 300)

"He made it…" Mariah said with a sigh of relief.

"But just barely. I hate to say it guys, but he's as good as dinner for those dragons." Jesse commented.

Smiling great big, Jaden replied "Don't count him out yet Jesse. He's stronger than you think he is. After all, a duel isn't over till the last card is played!"

"Still, it'll not be easy." Bastion stated. "He has to contend with four powerful dragons, each with 1900 or more attack points."

"Plus Kevin still has his field spell, making his dragons stronger on his turn." Alexis added.

"He's toast." Chazz darkly muttered.

Still smiling, Jaden confidently said "I believe in him. I know he can win this!"

Glancing at Jaden and then at the field, Hasselberry finally nodded and said "I do too! Commander Stormrage can still win this!"

Marie only wistfully smiled at the comments she heard from her students near her, but returned a worried look back towards Illidan. "_True, he's still standing and has a chance, but it's not going to be easy. Don't lose faith Illidan._"

On the field, Illidan examined the remaining card in his hand and then glanced up at Kevin's field. It was full of powerful dragons, all glaring at him.

"_Things aren't looking good now._" he mused. Steeling his resolve, he glanced at his hand once more and smirked. "_Still, I can win this, I know it! Besides, an old friend of mine is about to make an appearance!_"

Drawing his new card, Illidan called out "It's been two Standby Phases since I played Future Fusion, so help me welcome to the field an old friend! Rise up Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Glowing brightly for a moment, the spell card shot a beam out in front of it. The shape of a large three headed snake like machine dragon with massive mechanical wings appeared onto the field while letting out a massive mechanical roar.

"If you think he's bad news, just wait, for I play the spell Graceful Charity! Now I can draw three cards while tossing out two when I'm done!"

Grabbing three new cards, Illidan examined them momentarily before picking two out and placing them into his Graveyard Slot. "Next up, I play the spell Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back the monster I just discarded! Return now Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Igniting on the field was a flaming pentagram, and within it's center rose up a blue skinned mage clad in black leather armor and a strange mage's hat. His eyes had yellow corneas and red irises, giving him an intriguing look. Once fully on the field, he swept his scepter out away from his body, extinguishing the flames.

"With my mage's arrival, I'm allowed to take one spell from my Graveyard and put it back in my hand, and the one I choose is the one I dumped in with him, my Mirage of Nightmare."

Slowly, Illidan's Graveyard Slot glowed with a white light and the spell card pushed out into his awaiting hand. Picking it up and placing it in his left hand, Illidan turned his right hand towards Kevin, declaring "Cyber End Dragon, put his White-Horned Dragon down for the count with Super Strident Blaze!"

Each of the three heads on the machine dragon instantly roared to life and took aim at the weaker red dragon. Opening each of their jaws, the three heads revealed golden glowing energy within them. Simultaneously, the three fired a beam each of golden energy, which quickly merged into one beam. The single beam struck the red dragon hard, making it roar out in pain before shattering. The remainder of the blast struck Kevin, making his grimace lightly.

"Want more, then how about this! Dark Magician of Chaos, show off your skills by destroying Luster Dragon with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Twirling his scepter around his body, the mage pointed it straight at the weaker sapphire dragon and shot a blast of black glowing magical energy. The blast tore into the dragon easily enough, sending some additional gusts of wind towards Kevin, who used his left arm to cover his face.

"Unfortunately for you Kevin, when Dark Magician of Chaos destroys a monster in battle, it's removed from play instead of going to the Graveyard, so say your goodbyes."

Growling with annoyance, Kevin took the monster card and placed it within his removed from play slot. Nodding that he had done it right, Illidan took the two remaining cards in his hand and jammed them into his Spell/Trap Slots, saying "To end, I'll throw down a face down card and play Mirage of Nightmare. During your Standby Phase, I get to draw till I hold four cards, but during my Standby Phase I have to discard the same number I drew. That's it." (Kevin 3600, Illidan 300)

"Sweet moves! Illidan's definitely back in this duel!" Jaden declared with a brilliant smile.

Nodding in agreement, Hasselberry added "He's showing that those dragons are nothing but myths with that kind of firepower!"

"Still, this duel isn't over, and I have a hunch that Kevin isn't about to roll over and quit." Bastion smartly remarked with concern.

"Yeah, and my uncle is about out of life points…" Mariah worriedly mentioned.

Smiling at the two, Jaden replied "You two worry too much. Illidan will be fine, I'm sure of it."

Hearing Jaden, Marie mumbled lightly in her mind "_I hope so Jaden, I really hope so._"

Back on the field, Kevin lowly growled and snarled "YOU WON'T DEFEAT ME ILLIDAN! I'VE WORKED TOO HARD TO LET YOU WIN NOW!"

"All work and no play makes life dull." Illidan sarcastically remarked.

Clenching his fist tightly, Kevin glared at Illidan and was about to reply when he stopped and took a calming breath. Closing his eyes, he took a few more before revealing his eyes once more with a deep calmness reflecting in them. "You may have the field under control during your turn, but don't forget, it's my turn, and my dragons only get stronger now."

"We'll see how strong they can get soon enough I suppose." Illidan wistfully commented.

Smirking at the comment, Kevin picked up a card, saying "It's my turn."

"And since it is, it's Mirage of Nightmare's time to activate!" Illidan cut in. "Now I can draw till I hold four cards, so since I have none at the moment, that means four for me!"

Picking up four cards, Illidan placed them within his left hand and softly smirked. Kevin simply shrugged and showed the card he held, saying "It matters not. I activate the spell Dragon's Mirror! This spell allows me to fuse monsters on my field and in my Graveyard, then remove them from play in order to summon a Dragon Type Fusion monsters. I remove the two on my field and the three Troop Dragons in my Graveyard in order to fuse together my ultimate dragon!"

Appearing on the field was a mirror instantly. Slowly, it sucked in the two remaining dragons before it. One by one, the three dragon warriors then appeared onto the field as well, only to be sucked into the mirror also. Taking all five cards and placing them into his removed from play slot, Kevin smirked.

"It's time, so I summon forth my Five God Dragon (5000/5000)!"

The mirror on the field instantly glowed brilliantly. Finally, from the mirror shot an image onto the field, which slowly began to take shape of a dragon with olive colored skin, massive wings, and large sharp clawed hands and feet. Instead of a single head, five sprouted out, with the furthest on the left being made of what looked like steel, the next a bright white head with spikes sticking out of it, the middle being a black colored head, followed by a head made up of flames, and finally a blue watery like head. Each of the five heads roared loudly, shaking the dueling ring along with the building.

"Five heads are better than three, wouldn't you agree Illidan?" Kevin smugly teased.

Staring at the dragon in shock, Illidan muttered "We'll see."


	12. Chapter 12: Second Round, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, this week has been decent. Today, I went to the doctor for my allergies. I have bad ones to the spring, mostly due to tree pollen. Anyways, she subscribed to me some medicine, which I hope helps. We'll see, I suppose. Other than that, nothing really new in my personal life.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along like always. So, no worries there.**

**Last time, Illidan and Kevin began facing off, with Kevin taking an early lead, only to have Illidan begin a comeback. Now Illidan faces the Five God Dragon, which could present him with a problem. Can Illidan win still, or is this the end of him?**

**It's Review Time!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Very true, FGD hasn't been seen in forever. Hmm, I can't remember if it was ever in any of my stories. I don't think it was, unless one of the Big Five played it way back in **_**ToP**_**. Yep, the tournament is moving along nicely, with the first winner not too surprising. It would have been fun to have Jim and Axel mixing things up, but oh well. I think Axel more so than Jim, lol. His deck is odd and unpredictable, but Axel's is very nice. Feel free to PM me that idea you had about Arya's Duel Spirit. I'm glad you like this story thus far, and I hope you continue to. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: LOL! Yeah, Illidan needs to focus on who is in front of him and not about who was Viper's master at the moment. I probably meant isn't, lol. Glad you liked the five heads comment, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Kevin is presenting Illidan with quite a challenge. Yes, I had forgotten, lol. The episode was pretty decent, although they again clipped out some parts… I hope you did well on the SAT's. I do hope that 4Kids keeps Axel slamming into Haou also. It was a very nice looking scene. We'll see though. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Glad you got to read both. Yep, a dragon deck, hehe. Dragons are pretty cool. I used to play them, but gave them up eventually. I miss them, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yeah, Jaden sometimes does get a bit carried away with his speeches, but that's Jaden for you, lol. Never know what will happen in 5D's, heh. Eh, I may use the 5D's cards, but I don't know. I've not seen it yet, so we'll see. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Lol, true, Chazz shouldn't be commenting that Illidan will lose, especially since he lost to him the year before, hehe. Very true, Kevin had a good start. Dragon decks are fun, although I never played Dragun, but it can thrash someone, that is for sure. I've taken a beating first hand and can say that for sure, lol. Yes, cliffhangers are always fun, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Yep, it's turning out to be a good duel. It's cool about being speechless, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Thank you all for your reviews. They mean a lot. And to any who have not reviewed, but have comments or questions, please, don't hesitate to review or PM. I'm more than happy to answer them, so long as they don't reveal the plot.**

**Ah yes, I had a challenge for everyone. Answer me this question and I will post an extra chapter in that person's honor tomorrow. What is tomorrow to me?**

**Well, I'm done for today, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 12**

"It's been a blast Illidan, but this duel is over. You only have 300 life points, so no matter which monster of yours I choose to attack, this duel is done." Kevin smugly remarked.

Looking between the machine dragon and the mage, Kevin smirked and pointed at the mage, saying "That mage is your favorite, so I'll destroy him. It's been fun, but all things come to an end! Go Five God Dragon, end this by attacking his Dark Magician of Chaos with Five Element Strike!"

Each of the five heads roared loudly and took aim at the weaker mage. Opening each of their five jaws, each dragon formed a different element in each of their mouths, which began spilling out. The bluish head had water, the fiery one with flames, the dark one with dark energy, the light one with glowing white energy, and finally the steel one with brownish energy. Together, the five heads shot a stream of their energy at the weaker mage, who stared at the blast with wide eyes.

Watching the blast rushing towards the mage, Marie cried out "Illidan!"

Hearing his wife, Illidan glanced up at the stands where she sat, seeing worry and fear on her face. Softly smiling, he returned his vision to the duel and called out "I'm not that easy to beat Kevin! I play a spell, Emergency Provisions! With this, I can sacrifice spell and trap cards from my field and gain a 1000 life points per a card. I'll banish three, so Mirage of Nightmare, Elemental Absorber, and Future Fusion are all three going to my Graveyard while I gain 3000 life points."

Taking all three cards out of their slots, Illidan placed the three into his Graveyard Slot and watched while the three vanished from the field in a glow of golden sparkly energy. The machine dragon instantly roared out due to this and vanished as well.

"Unfortunately, when Future Fusion vanishes from the field, the monster that was summoned by it is destroyed, meaning I just lost my Cyber End Dragon." Illidan explained. "But it's a small price to pay, since I'm now going to survive this blast!"

Glaring at Illidan, Kevin smugly remarked "Not a problem with me, but this duel will end soon! Finish that mage my dragon!"

The stream of five energies continued on and struck the blue skinned mage with extreme force, making him cry out in loud pain. Part of the blast bypassed the mage and struck Illidan directly, making him scream as well.

In his mind, Illidan called to the mage, whispering "_I'm sorry Dark Magician of Chaos that I couldn't protect you. It was never my intention on losing you._"

An image of the mage appeared within his mind, with the mage sadly smiling. "_It's alright my Master. What is done is done. We will win though, I swear it!_"

"_As do I._" Illidan vowed.

Leaving his mind, Illidan fell to one knee, panting heavily. With difficulty, he tried to stand up, but found he couldn't due to the lack of strength. Once more trying to stand, he managed to get to his feet, but wobbled greatly. Steadying himself, he fully stood up, but was still panting heavily.

Smirking at his handiwork, Kevin calmly said "I think you've suffered enough for this turn. I'll place this card face down to end my turn, but next turn, I'll put you out of your misery." (Kevin 3600, Illidan 1100)

Staring down at the field, Jaden lightly growled, mumbling "Come on Illidan…"

"Professor Stormrage…" Alexis lowly murmured while squeezing Jaden's hand.

Watching her uncle pant still, Mariah whispered "Come on, I know you can do this Uncle Illidan."

"Commander Stormrage is definitely in trouble, but it's nothing he can't handle!" Hasselberry declared, only to add "I hope…"

"It's over. That bum has lost to the pro." Chazz remarked.

Ignoring Chazz, Bastion calmly said "I calculate that Professor Illidan has a chance still, but it's very slim. If he manages to pull this off, it will be a surprise. Nothing in his deck can compete with that monster."

"I'll agree with you there Bastion." Jesse remarked. Smiling, he added "But I have to say, since watching the Professor duel, I gotta believe he'll pull this one out."

"He'll need a miracle draw to pull it out now." Axel grunted out.

"Yeah, and even that may not help." Adrian added with a glum voice.

Confidently, Jaden cut in, saying "He'll win. Just watch guys."

The group all looked at Jaden with curious eyes to why he had so much confidence, but all returned their gaze soon enough to the field. Meanwhile, Marie only looked down at Illidan with worry filled eyes.

"_That last attack took so much out of him. Illidan, please, be strong! I know you can do this, with all my heart I know you can!_"

On the field, Illidan's panting finally calmed and he began to lightly chuckle. Finally, his chuckling grew into laughter as he glanced up at Kevin, who gave him a clueless stare.

Smirking, Kevin tauntingly asked "Are you so afraid of your loss that you resort to hiding it with laughter!?"

"No, I'm just happy due that this duel is so much fun. Right now, I'm having the time of my life. Plus, I have a strategy to win this thing." Illidan remarked with a smile.

Once more smirking, Kevin confidently replied "Oh yeah? Well then, explain how you plan on winning? You have no monsters with enough attack points to even match my dragon, not to mention, your life points are severely depleted."

"I have a plan, trust me." Illidan confidently stated. Drawing his card, he calmly said "Allow me to show you! I play the spell Chaos Revisited! First, I pay half my life points, then I can special summon any monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile to the field. I choose my removed from play pile, so welcome back Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Reappearing instantly onto the field was the black leather clad mage with blue skin. He swung his staff defiantly downwards and glared at the powerful five headed dragon before him.

"Next up, my mage's effect kicks in, allowing me to take a spell from my Graveyard and place it back into my hand. The one I'm choosing is this, my Emergency Provisions!"

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Illidan waited for the card to slide out, which did soon enough. Picking it up, he placed it within his left hand and softly smirked. "Now then, I remove from play one of my Cyber Dragons and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive from my Graveyard in order to special summon this, the beginning of your end! Meet Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Materializing onto the field was a warrior covered in black armor from head to toe, except for his face, which was the shade of light green, with long brown hair that fell down his back in a braid. In his right hand was a bronze colored sword and in his left was a powerful black shield.

"Want more, then check this out! I activate the spell card Chaos Fusion, allowing me fuse my two Chaos monsters together to form a new one!"

Both the mage and the warrior nodded to one another and leapt into the air together. The two began to instantly glow with bright aura's, with the mage's being a black one and the warrior a white one. Instantly, the two auras swirled together, seemingly getting rid of the warrior and mage. From the swirl came a new creature, this one that looked similar to the mage without his hat, allowing his long flowing black hair to fall down his back. He wore armor similar to the warrior's, but it was white and gold now, with the gold mostly accenting the joints. At his right side, he held a sharp lance in one hand.

"Meet my newest Chaos monster, my Dark Chaos Soldier – Envoy of Heaven (3400/2900)!" Illidan declared with pride.

Staring at the new monster, Kevin scoffed "There is nothing special about him. Don't forget, my dragon has the most points right now, meaning your little mage is outgunned. Plus, my monster can only be destroyed in battle by a Light Attribute monster."

"I happen to be in luck then." Illidan remarked wistfully. "My Dark Chaos Soldier is a Light Attribute monster. Still, you are right, right now, he's no match, but don't count him out yet! He has a very special ability! Once summoned, I can take a monster from either of our Graveyards and equip it to my warrior. He then gains that monster's points."

"Wait, it can get stronger!?" Kevin's shaky voice asked while a drop of sweat slid down the side of his face.

Nodding, Illidan replied "Sure can, so watch this! I activate Dark Chaos Soldier's effect and I equip an old friend from my Graveyard to him! Cyber End Dragon, lend your strength to Dark Chaos Soldier (3400 + 4000 7400/2900 + 2800 5700)!"

Appearing behind the powerful warrior was the large machine dragon, except in a transparent form. Letting out a loud roar, the dragon began sending it's energy to the warrior in a stream of white energy, making the warrior let out a loud cry. Once the stream finished, the dragon vanished, but the warrior pulled his lance up into an attacking stance.

"Dark Chaos Soldier, attack Five God Dragon with Chaos Lance Slash!"

Letting out a battle cry, the warrior rushed forward with lance held tightly to his side. Leaping high into the air, the warrior made a side slash through the air. From the slash, a blade of pure white energy went forward. The blade slashed through each of the five heads of the mighty dragon, making each head howl out in pain before shattering. The main body of the dragon then tumbled to the ground with a thunderous crash, leaving Kevin in complete shock.

Staring at the ground with clenched fists, Kevin lowly growled and finally snarled "You won't beat me Illidan! I hope your last turn was worth it, because you're going down now!"

"Who said I was done?" Illidan questioned while his warrior landed in front of him. Pulling a spell card from his hand, he showed it to Kevin and smartly said "I'm just getting warmed up, for now I activate Emergency Provisions, allowing me to sacrifice the equip card to my warrior (7400 – 4000 3400/5700 – 2800 2900), and gain a 1000 life points!"

The spell card instantly dissolved the equip card, making the warrior's body glow lightly while his power drained away.

Completely confused, Kevin asked "What is up with you!? Why sacrifice your equip card to gain points!? Afraid you'll take a big hit!?"

"Not at all." Illidan confidently remarked. "You see, when I destroyed my Dark Chaos Soldier's equip card just now, I did it on purpose. His second special ability just activated due that I used Emergency Provisions. When his equip card is destroyed in battle, he's allowed to attack a second time."

"Wait…" Kevin mumbled. "That means…"

"That means it's game Kevin. Dark Chaos Soldier, direct attack with Chaos Lance Slash!"

Charging forward, the powerful warrior in white armor slashed Kevin across the chest with his lance, dropping Kevin instantly to his hands and knees while panting hard. His life points quickly drained away to zero, making his Duel Disk power down.

"Ladies and gents, we have a winner! I give you Illidan Stormrage!" Pegasus called out over the microphone.

Slightly smiling at the cheers from the crowd, Illidan walked over to Kevin and kneeled down to the young man. Softly smiling once more, he said "You did well. That was a great duel."

Kevin looked up at Illidan with a slight smile and replied "Thanks. You were great too. We'll have to do that again sometime."

"Anytime." Illidan responded with a smile. Standing up, he offered a hand, which Kevin graciously took. Fully on his feet once more, Kevin shook Illidan's hand. The crowd only roared louder over the handshake.

--

The remainder of the evening was filled with incredible performances. In Joey and Yugi's duel, Joey pulled out an early lead by playing Gilford the Lightning and managing to take away all of Yugi's monsters in a single turn. Yugi rallied back though and managed to in the end summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, allowing him to take the win, but not before congratulating his friend on his hard fought duel.

Zane and Seto's duel was intense, with each playing their cards wisely. Zane started out slow, with Seto taking up the lead and holding it firmly by summoning a pair of Blue-Eyes White Dragons. With the two on the field, he kept his commanding presence till Zane finally managed to summon his Cyber Twin Dragon with the help of his Power Bond, allowing him to take the CEO down a peg. Down but not out, Seto fired back with his own XYZ-Dragon Cannon, only to have it destroyed when Zane summoned his Cyber End Dragon. Not one to be outdone, the slick CEO responded by playing his own three headed dragon, his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, only to replace it with his Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. The powerful dragon unleashed all it's power and destroyed the mighty three headed machine dragon to win the duel. At the end, the two respectfully shook hands, with Seto even revealing a small smile, which Zane did likewise.

With the duels over, the field was set for the Semi-Finals, which featured two sets of rematches that the students were excited about. The first rematch was Illidan vs. Marie, and the second rematch was a legendary one of Seto vs. Yugi. Both duels looked promising to all that eagerly wanted to watch the married couple fight, while most wanted to see a rivalry as almost as old as Duel Monsters itself repeat once more.

--

Late that night, a small group made their way to Yugi's home. Yugi, Illidan, Marie, Joey, Seto, Pegasus, Jaden, Alexis, Chazz, and Zane all met up and sat around in the living room. Tea and Mai had elected to entertain Yoshi and Arya while the group talked.

Sitting on the couch beside of Marie, Illidan finally spoke up. "Whatever Chaos Emperor Dragon and I felt today, I'm sure it has to do with Viper's so called master. Whoever it was that was ordering Viper to prey on the students is still around, I'm willing to bet."

"Yeah, but who?" Joey asked. "I mean, there are a lot of duelists and students still on the island."

"Not to mention, there could be people out there like how Viper was." Marie piped up.

The entire group all nodded and let out a sigh. After a moment of silence, Zane stood up and began striding towards the door, earning many looks of confusion.

"Where you off to Zane?" Yugi asked softly.

Looking back, Zane muttered "To look for Syrus."

Watching the young man walk out the door of the house, Marie sadly said "Poor Zane, he just won't give it up."

"I know. He keeps going out there nightly." Seto remarked. "If that was Mokuba lost, I guess I would probably do the same thing."

Part of the group looked at the CEO with confused looks, making him scowl at the group and ask "What?"

"You're so different from the old Kaiba we used to know and hate." Joey spoke up with a smirk.

Glaring at Joey, Seto roared "Would you like this Kaiba to kick your butt!"

"Bring it on rich boy!" Joey bantered back.

Heavily sighing, Illidan rubbed his temples and groaned. "Not this again…"

Giggling lightly at Illidan, Marie called out "I got five bucks on Joey!"

"I'll put twenty on Seto!" Yugi declared, earning him a shocked look from Joey.

"YOU TRAITOR!" Joey growled out.

Shrugging, Yugi smirked and replied "I can't bet my money on an outside shot. Besides, I know you'd win. It's just to give you motivation."

"Yeah right… Thanks pal." Joey grumbled.

The younger students only looked between the adults, with Chazz lowly whispering to Alexis "And they say we're immature."

"Agreed." Alexis mumbled with a nod.

Smirking, Jaden chuckled and called out "I put ten bucks on Joey!"

Slapping her palm to her face, Alexis muttered "Why me…"

Looking to Jaden with a great big smile, Joey gave him a thumb's up and said "There's that confidence and support I was looking for!"

--

After another twenty minutes of light ribbing, the group finally concluded their talks and headed for their homes with instructions to keep a watch. Arriving home with Arya fast asleep, Illidan and Marie took their shoes off, with Marie taking Arya to their bedroom to be put down for the night. Laying Arya down into her crib, Marie bent over and kissed the small child on the forehead.

"Good night Arya." she lightly whispered.

Moving away from the crib, Marie returned downstairs to find her husband outside, staring up at the sky. Joining him, she embraced him from behind and glanced up at the clouds floating over the island.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

Lightly smiling, Illidan lowly replied "Just how things seem to be. It seems like no matter how hard we try, we're dragged into some kind of trouble always."

Snuggling into his back, she quietly said "I guess it's just the way things are."

"I guess…" he mumbled back. Turning around in her arms, he reached down and tilted her head back with his fingers gently. Staring into her chocolate colored orbs, he reached down and placed a light kiss onto her lips. Slowly, he deepened the kiss, asking for entrance into her mouth with his tongue, which she gladly gave. The two melted further into the kiss till finally Marie pulled back, lightly panting.

"We shouldn't with Arya alone inside…" she mumbled with a touch of sadness.

Groaning inside, Illidan rested his forehead against hers and mumbled with irritation "She'll be fine. We need time to ourselves."

Bristling with anger, Marie pulled free from his embrace and planted her hands on her hips. "You mean time for sex! That's all you think about! What about our daughter!? She needs us!" she fired off.

Knowing the situation was going to only grow uglier, Illidan charged in and said "Marie, our daughter is important to me too, but you are as well. Since she's been born, we have had hardly any time at all alone. In fact, I know we haven't spent any. Either she ends up crying or you spend all the time we have together worrying about her. You need to let her have a small bit of room to breathe."

"All you care about is what you want! Our daughter needs to come first!" Marie shouted.

"Marie, our daughter is very important, but in a marriage, it comes down to me and you first, then Arya." Illidan calmly explained.

Gnashing her teeth, Marie snarled "You're just selfish!"

Illidan was about to respond when the sound of Arya wailing from her crib came through the door Marie had left cracked open when she came out to see him. Marie immediately went running into the house to their bedroom, leaving Illidan to heavily sigh.

Deciding to be brave, he walked back inside, shutting the door behind him. Quietly, he crept up the stairway to the second floor and padded to their bedroom. There, Illidan found Marie rocking Arya gently in her arms. Arya was still lightly sobbing, but had quieted down somewhat.

Glaring at him when he entered, Marie hushed Arya lightly and rubbed her back gently, whispering "There, there, it's alright. Mommy's here now."

Sighing, Illidan blurted out "You're spoiling her."

Earning himself a fierce glare, Marie harshly remarked "She's just a baby Illidan! She needs protected and let known that she's loved!"

"She also needs to have a little independence." Illidan added, feeling as if he was criticizing himself already after all the times he had insisted on protecting Marie and not really entrusting her to her own protection.

"For crying out loud Illidan, she's just a baby!" Marie snarled. "She needs her mother and father constantly!"

"But not every minute of the day." Illidan remarked.

Seeing the argument was going nowhere and Arya was starting to whimper a bit more and threatening to throw a temper tantrum, Illidan calmly said "I have a suggestion to resolve this."

Throwing a glare at him, Marie growled out "What!?"

"We make a wager on the outcome of tomorrow's duel between me and you." he lightly explained. "If you win, I'll drop this issue and you can keep Arya in here in our room, allowing her to continue to disrupt our lives forever and ever."

Thinking on his words, Marie pondered rolled them over in her mind before finally asking "And if you win?"

"If I win, we move Arya into her room and allow her to sleep there at night, thus allowing me and you to have some alone time again. I'm not saying we ignore her completely, but we allow her to spend time alone in her own room, thus making time for me and you to spend together. It's not about the sex, it's about getting time alone." Illidan remarked.

Smirking slightly, he added "Although, the sex would help smooth things over a bit."

"You want me to abandon our baby just so we can have sex!? No way, not happening! Besides, that ugly room is no place for my baby!" Marie snarled.

Knowing how to get her to agree, Illidan challengingly asked "You're not even tempted to shut me up, huh? I mean, if you win, I have no choice but to accept your decisions over Arya being in our room. I'll even throw in remodeling the room myself."

Marie was about to fire back when she stopped. Pursing her lips together for a moment, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she finally sighed and smirked. With a cocky attitude, she replied "You know, having you shut up about Arya being in here would make life so much easier, not to mention getting rid of that ugly stuff Kaiba picked out for her room would be helpful. You're on, I accept your wager!"

"Good, then let's shake on it."

Taking her right hand, Marie offered it out, while Illidan did the same. The two shook hands and smirked at one another.

"When I win, you'll not gripe one time because you agreed to it. Plus you'll fix her ugly room into something bearable. I can't wait." Marie smugly remarked.

Smirking back at her, Illidan replied "We'll see my dear. I just can't wait to spend some alone time with you again."

With those words said, the two left one another's company to work on their decks.

--

Placing the last card on the table onto her deck, Marie let out a small sigh of relief. Ever since Illidan had made the wager earlier that night, she had worked on her deck after getting Arya calmed down and back to sleep. Looking over at the clock, she saw that it was already two in the morning, but she only shrugged.

Standing up, she stretched out her back and yawned lightly. Glancing down at her deck, she picked it up and smiled.

"_This is going to be a tough duel, but I know my deck can win it for me. I just have to believe in myself, and that I can do this. I'll put Illidan in his place once I win._" she mused.

"… _It's not about the sex, it's about getting time alone._"

Shaking her head, Marie tried to rid herself of Illidan's words from earlier. "_I can't start letting my emotions cloud my thoughts now. He's somewhat right, but we can't displace Arya just like that. He needs to learn that she comes first, not us._"

Heavily sighing, she leaned backwards once more while placing her hands on her butt. Stretching backwards, she leaned back upright and glanced out the window at the nearby Slifer Dorm. No lights were on, which was a good sign that everyone was asleep, as far as she knew.

Yawning once more, she walked over and placed her deck into it's holder and set it next to her Duel Disk. Gently sweeping Arya up into her arms, she walked off towards their bedroom for some much needed sleep.

--

Examining his cards carefully, Illidan laid another onto a stack of ones he had plans on including. Picking up one more, he looked at it closely and felt the monster's presence standing behind him in a transparent form, seemingly hovering over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

"_Master, why are you looking through your deck so thoroughly?_" the mage in black leather armor asked.

Lightly smiling, Illidan lowly said "I need to make sure my deck is ready for my duel tomorrow with Marie."

Frowning, the mage asked "_But why are you so intensely looking through it? It's not like you to sit and ponder over it unless it's a big match, like last year with Jaden Yuki._"

"I know, but I want to win tomorrow. I want to prove to Marie that we can love Arya very much, but at the same time, we need to love one another more." Illidan explained.

Laying down the card he held, he calmly added "Arya is precious to me, but Marie is more important to me. She always will be, and she seems to have forgotten we're to hold one another much closer to our hearts than our children. I want to remind her of that tomorrow in our duel."

"_I see._" the mage mumbled. "_You love her and your child, but your deepest love is for her, not the child._"

"It's complicated…" Illidan mumbled in reply. Pulling his hands behind his head, Illidan glanced at the ceiling while leaning back in his chair. "I deeply love both, but Marie is the mother of my children, thus I could never love our children more than her. It's important to us to keep that fact in our forefront."

Frowning lightly, the mage finally said "_I guess I can see your point…_"

"To me, and maybe only me, it's important. It's something Squall taught me, and I won't forget it. Perhaps my father even taught it to me, in a way. He loved my mother so much, but she didn't survive my birth. From the stories I had heard about them, I believe father truly would have died alongside of my mother that night when I was born if not for me."

"_Humans are so confusing._" the mage grumbled.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan teasingly asked "You just learning that now?"

"_I knew it the day I met you, and am constantly reminded by it each and every day._" the mage taunted back.

Laughing lightly, Illidan leaned back forward and picked up his cards once more. "I better finish up. It's getting late."

--

Picking up one last card, Illidan placed it on top of his deck and let out a sigh. "Finally, it's done." he mumbled.

Grabbing hold of his deck, he began shuffling it and then slid it into his deck holder. Setting the holder near his Duel Disk, he slightly smiled.

"Marie is going to have a tough time tomorrow." he quietly remarked.

Noting that the time was three in the morning, Illidan stood up and walked towards the upstairs. Both him and Marie had an office within their home to do private work, so he had taken his deck into his own to work on it while Marie had done the same with hers.

Going upstairs, he heard soft breathing coming from their bedroom. Walking in, he found Arya in her crib with her blanket pulled up to her chin. She had hold of it with her small hands, seemingly gripping it. Lightly smiling at the cute scene, he walked over and kissed the top of her head.

"Good night Arya. Daddy loves you." he said in a low whisper. Arya lightly stirred and seemingly burrowed deeper into her blanket.

Softly chuckling at the sight, he moved to the bed to find Marie with the covers pulled tightly around her. Removing all of his clothing except his boxers, Illidan climbed into bed behind Marie and pulled her into his arms. She had her back to him, so he wrapped his arms around her, holding the two of them together.

Kissing her neck, he whispered "I love you so much Marie. Good night."

A faint "Love you" was said back from Marie's form, but she was obviously asleep and oblivious to what he had really said. Softly smiling at this, he buried his nose into her hair and inhaled her scent. Resting his forehead against the back of her head, he yawned and closed his eyes before finally falling asleep.

--

Waking up the next morning, Illidan got up and prepared himself for the day before taking Arya downstairs with him and feeding her. She had been awake when he had finished preparing for the day, and was simply laying in her crib, seemingly glancing up at the ceiling.

Upon finishing up with feeding Arya, he laid her within her playpen and prepared breakfast for himself and Marie. Deciding to cook a larger breakfast, he fried up some hash browns, sausage links, over-easy fried eggs, biscuits, and gravy. Once he had finished fixing breakfast, he sat down and ate.

Finishing up, he noted Marie hadn't come downstairs yet, so he fixed her plate and put it within a serving tray. Making sure Arya would be fine for a little while, Illidan decided she'd be fine and picked up the food he had prepared. Walking upstairs with the food and orange juice, Illidan took it into their bedroom.

Finding Marie still asleep, he softly smiled. The thought of waking her up slightly irked him, but knowing she would want to be up, he set the food down on the night stand and gently sat down onto the bed.

"Marie…" he softly called in her ear.

She lightly groaned for a moment, but instead of waking up, she buried deeper into the covers. Stopping himself from chuckling, he again said "Marie, wake up."

Again she groaned, but this time turned towards him. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, revealing her chocolate orbs. Smiling down at her, he warmly said "Wake, wake sleepy head."

Yawning a bit, Marie sat up and looked over at the clock. "It's already ten?" she asked while stifling another yawn.

"Yes dear, it is. You were burning the midnight oil too I suppose?" Illidan questioned while moving her meal closer.

Shrugging, she replied "A little. What's for breakfast?"

Setting the tray down in front of her, he opened it to reveal her breakfast. Looking it over, Marie happily dug in. Chuckling lightly at her, Illidan sat off to the side and glanced at the window. The shades were drawn, even though the window faced the ocean. Deciding to not sit for too long, he walked outside onto the deck and stared off at the sea.

A few minutes later, Marie finished and joined him in her robe. "Is Arya alright this morning?"

"Yes, she's fine." Illidan responded with a small smile. "She's downstairs playing in her playpen. I already fed her."

Nodding with satisfaction, Marie let a sly smile cross her face, saying "You know, after tonight, you're going to have to not complain about how I do things with her."

"I know, but that's only if you win." Illidan remarked wryly.

Smirking, Marie replied ""We'll see about that. I'm going to go get ready for the day."

"Ok."


	13. Chapter 13: Lovers Spat, Pt 1

**Hey again everyone! Well, not much has changed in my personal life. So, I'll move on, lol.**

**Writing wise, nothing new to report either.**

**Last time, Illidan won his duel against Kevin. Afterwards, there was a meeting to discuss the situation at the academy, but nothing new was really apparent, other than what Illidan felt. Later, him and Marie had an argument over Arya, with him making a wager. If she wins, he'll stop complaining about Marie's spoiling their daughter and remodel her room. But if he wins, Marie will start placing Arya in her room at night to sleep and spend more time with him. The bet was taken, and now the question is, who will win their duel?**

**Wow, no one answered my challenge question. I figured someone would, or at least someone would try. Heh, I guess I have no choice but to answer it for you all. It's a simple answer. The day today, well, it's special to me due that it's my birthday. I'm officially legal! Wait, I've been legal for a while… I'm actually old enough to not fall under penalties of car insurance now! Happy days for saving some money, lol. But anyways, today I'm officially 25, so to celebrate my birthday, I'm posting this extra chapter.**

**Before I get to the reviews, I wanted to discuss the squabble Illidan and Marie had over Arya. Illidan's point is rather important, at least I think. Kids are very important to parents, but you have to remember one thing: parents are with one another for life (anymore, that's not so much the case, but ones that wish to be together are). Thus that is why I had Illidan take the stance that Marie is always far more important than Arya in his heart. She is the mother of his children, and will never be replaced in that retrospect. True, you can't replace children with other children, but replacing the mother of your children is not possible either. I think that a wife comes before children. I know that maybe something people don't agree with, but it's my thoughts. Kids are a very close second though. I'm not saying parents should say "Hey, we love one another and want nothing to do with the kids." No, I'm saying parents should place one another first as an importance, followed closely by their kids. Also, kids grow up, so a marriage/relationship should be strong, because once the kids are gone, it's just the two of you. If you didn't keep close and in love, then things sure are going to be stressful or difficult. Anyways, I hope that explains things.**

**Alrighty then, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Lol, yeah, Yugi can't bet his money on unsure things. Actually, in my last fic, the prequel to this (**_**Forgotten Guardians**_**), Kaiba admitted to losing to Joey during their weekly duels. Of course, I'm sure Kaiba has more wins, hehe. Yes, another family squabble, lol. Always so much fun. Actually, looking back on that squabble, I realized it was very real. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yeah, Kaiba wins with the Kaiba Kick! A little broken? Oh well, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Glad you liked the upcoming duel, hehe. The wagers will be fun, lol. Right now, I'm unsure if the medicine is helping. I just went on it this morning, so I can't say yes or no. I thus far feel no different, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Yeah, the showcasing of his newest Chaos monsters is always fun, lol. Lol, we can't have FGD winning, now can we? I know, some of the duels were wished to be seen, and I thought of doing them, but that's like almost doing a new **_**Tournament of Power**_**, and I had no desire to write that many duels, lol. I thought about it, but again, I wasn't willing to write that many duels. Heh, Illidan and Marie tender moments, I know. Eh, I like the use of "chocolate orbs" myself. I never thought of someone's brown eyes that way till is saw it in an Inuyasha fic, but it is widely used I think. Eh, I discussed what I thought on Illidan's thoughts on kids above, so cool beans. Some people have different opinions, and I respect that. Oh, not one my better ones? Eh, I guess you're kind of right. It was more filler than anything, lol, but oh well. It happens. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Oh? I didn't know FGD was only used in **_**FG**_**. I could have sworn I used it in **_**ToP**_** with the Big Five. Oh well, don't matter, lol. Glad you liked the new Chaos monster. Heh, a triple fusion eh? You never know, it could happen, or not, lol. We'll see, hehe. I know, quit being mysterious, but that's me. True, I think dueling could save many people's marriages, lol. I duel my mate still, although she's got a deck that's rather competitive with my current one, although I made mine challenging to win with, hehe. Eh, as for the relationship thing and kids, I said my piece above. Like I said before, different opinions are cool, and I respect them. I may not agree with them always, but they are respectable. Still, my opinion may change one day, who knows. It's easy to say things as I do with not being a father yet, but I don't know. We'll see, lol. Btw, thanks for the PM. I'll get back to you on it, hehe. Thanks for the comments and the review!**

**Well, that's all for me. Thank you everyone for your reviews. I enjoyed reading them and seeing the comments on what Illidan had to say. They're very helpful. And just so everyone knows, Illidan does explain himself a little better later. Just wait, you'll see, lol. But again, thanks for the reviews, and to anyone who didn't and has comments or questions, I encourage you to review. I will answer any comments and questions, so long as it doesn't reveal the plot.**

**That's all I have for today, so I hope you all enjoy this special posting. Thanks again, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 13**

"Ladies and gents, do we have a special treat for all of you tonight!" Pegasus blared into the microphone, only to receive a loud applause. "Tonight, we have two electrifying matches. First up will be a marital battle royal, as Illidan Stormrage takes on his lovely wife, Marie Stormrage!"

The crowd screamed to life upon hearing the two names, with everyone cheering loudly. Smiling at the reaction, Pegasus brought the microphone up to his mouth once more, saying "And our second match will be a duel that none of you will want to miss. That duel is a rivalry as old as Duel Monsters itself! That's right, the duel that I know everyone wants to see, it's Seto Kaiba vs. Yugi Moto!"

The entire arena became deafened by the level of the noise from the crowd upon hearing the names of the two most famous duelists. Smirking at the reaction, Pegasus waited for the crowd to calm down a bit before calling out "But first, let us begin this first duel! Will our two happily married duelists please come forward?"

Side by side, Illidan and Marie walked out of the small tunnel that led to the rest of the building. Each wore their Duel Disks on their wrists and their school uniforms. Neither looked at the other, for each were silently preparing for their duel. Getting into the dueling ring, the two separated and turned to Pegasus.

Noting the quietness between the two, Pegasus slyly said "The two of them seem to be all business this evening."

"Shut up Pegasus!" both Illidan and Marie simultaneously shouted.

Shrugging, Pegasus walked off the stage, saying "I can tell when I'm not needed. You two may begin when ready."

Pulling their decks out, both Illidan and Marie shuffled and jammed them into their Deck Slots. Staring one another down, the pair moved to their positions and prepared to start.

"Don't forget Illidan, once I win, you have to quit grumbling about how I do things with Arya, and you'll be busy redecorating this weekend." Marie smugly remarked.

Smirking, Illidan calmly replied "And let's not forget my dear, once I win, Arya will be staying in her room more often, allowing us to get some very much needed alone time."

In the crowd, Yugi had heard their declarations and looked to Joey and Seto. "Sounds like they put a wager on this duel." he remarked.

"He wouldn't dare redecorate that room I had made for Arya." Seto grumbled.

Bursting out loud laughing, Joey replied "That was a nice touch rich boy! It's not like they'll ever put her in that room with all those ugly dragons in it."

Glaring at Joey, Seto's jaw clenched, but he remained quiet. "That idiot better not lose." he simply grumbled.

"I have a feeling this is going to be intense." Yugi mumbled, earning Seto's attention.

Smirking, Seto remarked "Not as intense as our duel."

The two shot a look at one another before returning their vision to the field, but the anxiety to their duel continued to build.

Looking at one another, both Illidan and Marie drew five cards simultaneously, shouting out "Duel!"

Picking up a sixth card, Marie smugly said "Ladies first. I summon Shining Angel (1400/800)!"

A blonde haired young man with large golden wings sticking out his back and a white tunic and shorts appeared onto the field. His skin was rather bronzed, like he had been tanning for days.

"I'll place these two cards face down and end my turn." (Marie 8000, Illidan 8000)

Drawing his card, Illidan examined it before showing Marie. "That all you got? Well, watch this, I play Graceful Charity! This spell allows me to pick up three cards, then toss out two from my hand."

Quickly grabbing three cards, Illidan momentarily examined them before picking two from his hand and placing them into his Graveyard Slot. "Next up, I remove from play the two cards I just sent. So say farewell to Allure Queen LV7 and Mirage Dragon, and hello Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a warrior in black full body armor. His face was revealed, but that was all, which had light green skin. In his right hand was a bronzed sword and in his left was a strong shield.

"I'm not done yet, for I play a field spell. Go Chaos Control!"

Holding his Duel Disk vertically, Illidan tapped the end of his Duel Disk, causing a slot to shoot out. The moment the card was placed within the slot, it shut and his Duel Disk glowed with rainbow energy. Immediately, the field turned into sand with a cave nearby Illidan while the sky darkened and clouded in.

"Thanks to my field spell, once per a turn, I can special summon one monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile to the field. And I'll start off by bringing out my Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500) from my deck!"

Pulling his deck out, Illidan searched it till he found the card. Finding it, he slapped it to his Duel Disk, making the sky begin lighting up with lightning. The lightning continuously struck the ground repeatedly till finally, a large burst struck the ground. From the strike, a powerful black dragon with large wings, powerful clawed hands, feet, and a tail appeared onto the field. The dragon had an orange mane and let out a mighty roar, seemingly shaking the arena.

Marie warily eyed both monsters, but didn't get a chance to rest. "I'm still not done Marie, because I play the spell Chaos Fusion! Now I can fuse my monsters on the field together to create my Chaos Emperor Knight – Envoy of Demise (3500/3000)!"

The black dragon and the black armored knight instantly leapt into the air and swirled together. A blinding light filled the field from the swirling, which slowly receded, revealing the black dragon with the powerful black armored warrior on it's back.

"Check out his special ability! For each monster I removed from play to summon it's Fusion Material monsters, my monster gains 500 attack points. I removed two, thus it gains a 1000 points (3500 + 500 2 4500/3000)!"

Roaring softly, the dragon threw it's head back while the warrior let out a small yell while their bodies glowed with a white aura. The aura quickly faded, but each were ready for battle.

"Say goodbye to your Shining Angel! Attack with Chaos Stream!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black dragon took aim and fired a stream of black energy from it's jaws. The warrior reacted to the dragon's action and aimed his sword at the angel as well and shot out a stream of white energy. The two streams swirled together, becoming a powerful white and black stream of energy racing towards the angel.

Smirking at the oncoming blast, Marie slyly asked "Do you take me for a fool, Illidan? I activate the trap Draining Shield!"

Materializing before the blonde angel instantly was a golden energy barrier. The barrier was struck hard by the oncoming mixed stream of energy, but held and absorbed the blast. Once the attack had subsided, a stream of golden energy shot into Marie's Duel Disk, causing her life point counter to shoot up.

"Thanks to my trap, your attack was not only negated, but I gained life points equal to your monster's attack points. So sorry Illidan, but you'll have to do better than that if you want to beat me." Marie smugly remarked.

Grunting, Illidan slid a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and replied "I end my turn." (Marie 12500, Illidan 8000)

Grabbing a new card, Marie smirked, but was cut off by Illidan. "I activate my Chaos Control's special ability and bring back my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500) from my Graveyard."

Reappearing onto the field, the black armored warrior took up an offensive stance beside of the black dragon and it's rider.

Shrugging, Marie smirked and slapped the card she was still holding in her right hand to her Duel Disk, calling out "It matters not, for I sacrifice Shining Angel to summon Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)."

The blonde hair angel instantly vanished in a shimmering white light, only to be replaced by a new half angel, half horse creature. The angel half wore blue and gold armor, and had wings draping across it's body in different places. In his right hand was a sword, while his left held a shield. The horse half was white, and had wings on it's back.

"Don't get too familiar with my monster though, for I'm sacrificing him to special summon my Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin (2300/2000)!"

Vanishing in a glow of shimmering light, the light died down, revealing a new angel, this one looking like a powerful warrior. He had massive white wings that were held to his back with an orange and blue set of bindings. The warrior had a pair of strong legs covered with a flowing white battle skirt. On each arm were massive sharp blades, with bold armor covering parts of the blade. The chest area of the warrior was now covered in grey and blue armor, and his head had a new helmet to cover his entire face. Fully on the field, the angel let out a battle cry, signifying his readiness to fight.

Smirking, Marie pulled another card from her hand and showed it to Illidan. "I'm tossing out this monster, my Zeradias, Herald of Heaven, in order to activate his special ability. I can now move the field spell The Sanctuary of the Sky to my hand."

Pulling her deck out, Marie searched it for a moment before pulling the card out and placing it in her left hand. Shuffling her deck, she slid it back into place and held her Duel Disk vertically and tapped the end of it, making a slot shoot out.

"Time to say goodbye to your Chaos Control and hello to my The Sanctuary of the Sky!"

The sand on the ground instantly vanished, along with the cave behind Illidan and the storm quieted. Without warning, the sky that had been created turned to a shade of blue with white fluffy clouds filling it. A large stone sanctuary with cherub statues appeared behind Marie.

"In here, when my Fairy Type monsters engage in battle and are destroyed, I take zero Battle Damage." she calmly explained. Smirking, she pointed at her powerful angel and added "Oh yeah, and thanks to my field spell, Neo-Parshath's special effect kicks in. The difference in our life points is taken and that number is added to my angel's points. Right now, I have 4500 more points than you, meaning he gains all of them (2300 + 4500 6800/2000 + 4500 6500)!"

Instantly, the mighty angel let out a cry while his body glowed with bright white light. After a moment, the light died down and he swung his body into an offensive position.

"Alright, it's go time! Neo-Parshath, destroy Illidan's Chaos Emperor Knight with Paladin Slash!"

Rushing forward, the powerful warrior drew his swords back in preparation to strike at the black armored knight on the black dragon.

Halfway across the field, Illidan called out "My Chaos Emperor Knight isn't going down that easily! I play the trap Magic Cylinder, meaning you'll take a hit equal to your monster's attack points!"

A pair of pink cylinder like barrels instantly appeared onto the field. Each had a yellow question mark on them, with one pointing at the approaching warrior and the other at Marie.

Smirking, Marie replied "Very predictable Illidan, hence why I play this! Go Trap Jammer! My trap now negates your own trap!"

Immediately, the two pink barrels vanished into nothingness while the fairy warrior continued on and leapt into the air. Coming downwards, the fairy warrior slashed the weaker black armored warrior on the black dragon's back in half and then slashed the dragon across the chest, making the two explode. Falling to the ground, the warrior rushed forward and slashed Illidan across the chest, making him scream out in pain and fall to his hands and knees.

"Thanks to my Neo-Parshath's effect, when he deals you Battle Damage, I draw one card from my deck." Marie stated while picking up a card. Placing it into her Spell/Trap Slot, she calmly added "I set this card, and now that your life points have changed, Neo-Parshath's points change too (2300 + 6800 9100/2000 + 6800 8800). I end my turn at that." (Marie 12500, Illidan 5700)

The entire crowd was in shock at the turn of events. Talking amongst themselves, Jaden and friends began to ponder Illidan's fate.

"He started out with such a fierce combo, but Marie just turned his strategy inside out." Jaden quipped.

Nodding, Alexis worriedly added "If he doesn't do something soon, he'll lose this duel."

"That loser's finished now you guys." Chazz grumbled. "Neo-Parshath's special ability allows it to deal Illidan Trample damage whenever it battles a defensive monster. No way he'll survive next turn."

"Ah, come on Chazz, have a little faith in him." Jaden admonished.

Studying the field, Bastion calmly stated "This looks bad. Professor Illidan has no way to counter such a powerful monster. He has none in his deck that has that kind of power, that much is certain."

"I wouldn't count Uncle Illidan out yet." Mariah declared. "Him and Aunt Marie duel constantly, so I'm sure he was ready for her move. Besides, it's not all bad. He has his Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning still after all."

"Now if only he can use it to his advantage." Axel stated.

Looking on, Jesse calmly said "I wouldn't worry about him fellas. I have a feeling Illidan won't take this laying down. Just wait, he'll be back, I'm sure of it!"

"I hope you're right Jesse, but still, I don't want Professor Marie to lose either. Too bad both can't win." Jaden mused.

Further down in the crowd, Yugi looked at his fallen friend and then back at his other standing one. Eyeing the two, he put his palms to his head and rubbed his eyes lightly. "I hate watching those two fight it out."

"Why not watch them kick each other's butts Yugi? It's kind of entertaining." Seto interjected with a smirk.

Glancing between the two, Joey lightly said "I have to admit it, when those two duel, it's very exciting."

"Yeah, both of them are so strong and stubborn, it's no surprise they love one another so much and can fight like mortal enemies in a duel." Mai commented.

"I just hope the two of them make it out of this with the ability to stand." Yugi mumbled.

On the field, panting heavily while on his hands and knees still, Illidan clenched his right hand tightly and glanced up at Marie. "_She's not playing around. She's serious about winning this duel, without a doubt._"

Slowly standing up, he finally managed to get to his feet and lightly smirked. "_Still, I'm not done with trying to beat her yet._"

Using the back of his right hand to wipe his mouth off, Illidan warmly said "Not too shabby Marie."

"Thanks Illidan, but flattery will only earn you defeat." she smugly replied.

Lightly smirking, Illidan replied while drawing "We'll see!"

Glancing at his card, he smirked once more and called out "I play Black Luster Soldier's effect! Instead of attacking this turn, he can remove one monster from play, so say farewell to Neo-Parshath!"

Pointing his shield at the fairy warrior, the black armored warrior began pouring energy into it. The shield began glowing with a bright white light instantly, making it hard to even look out. With little warning, a pulse of white light fired and struck the fairy warrior hard, shattering him instantly and sending out a small cloud of smoke. Marie coughed slightly, but glared at Illidan through the smoke.

Once the smoke had cleared, Illidan slapped a monster to his Duel Disk, declaring "I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000)!"

Rising up onto the field was a small, child like mage with pale white skin, silver locks of hair, and light blue eyes. He wore a set of white mages robes with a blue body suit underneath and a mages hat on his head. A small scepter was in his right hand, which he clutched tightly.

"Don't get too used to him like he is currently, because kids grow up so fast these days! I play the spell Level Up, allowing me to sacrifice him and summon Silent Magician LV8 (3500/1000)!"

Glowing brightly, the white mage grew in height immediately. The glow slowly diminished, revealing an older, more mature version of the mage. His child like looks were gone, but the same kind look he had held remained.

"Silent Magician, direct attack Marie now with Silent Scepter Blast!"

Pointing his staff at Marie, the mage fired a blast of white magical energy. The blast quickly traveled across the field and approached her rapidly.

"I'm not that easy to hit Illidan, I play my trap, Hallowed Life Barrier! Thanks to this trap, I can discard a card from my hand and reduce all damage to my life points to zero for this turn!" she declared.

A light blue barrier suddenly appeared before Marie, which took the hit from the white magical energy. The blast grinded against the barrier for a moment before finally fading away. Once the blast ended, the blue barrier vanished, revealing Marie once more.

"The card I just discarded by the way was Radiant Jeral, a monster whose ability activates once sent to the Graveyard. I now gain a 1000 life points."

Gnashing his teeth together, Illidan slid a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and muttered "I'm done." (Marie 13500, Illidan 5700)

Smiling like a Cheshire cat upon examining the card she drew, Marie turned it towards Illidan and smugly said "I play this spell, Card of Demise! You know the drill, I draw five cards, but in five turns I have to discard my entire hand."

Picking up four cards, she examined them momentarily before finally saying "I place these two cards face down and that's all." (Marie 13500, Illidan 5700)

Nodding, Illidan drew his next card and examined the field for a moment. "_She has nothing but two face down spell/trap cards. What could she be planning?_"

Shrugging it off, he calmly declared "Silent Magician, direct attack with Silent Scepter Blast!"

Leaping into the air, the powerful white mage began building up energy on the end of his scepter and pointed it straight at Marie.

Before the mage could even fire, Marie giggled innocently and sweetly said "Illidan, you know you should check your targets much better. I play the spell Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! With this, I can special summon my little pal, Winged Kuriboh (300/200) from my deck."

Pulling the card out of her deck in a hurry, Marie slapped it horizontally onto her Duel Disk, causing a small brown fur ball creature to appear that had green clawed hands and feet, purple eyes, and white wings on it's back.

"Next, I reveal my spell card and play a page out of Jaden's book, Transcendent Wings! All I have to do is sacrifice Winged Kuriboh and two cards from my hand, and then you're in real trouble because I can summon Winged Kuriboh LV10 (300/200)!"

Placing the two cards from her hand into her Graveyard Slot, Marie watched as suddenly the small brown winged creature began glowing brightly. The glow quickly faded, revealing a large set of white wings, which was attached to some small golden dragon like armor. The creature wearing the golden armor was none other than the small brown haired creature, now with eyes of fierceness. The large golden wings stretched out to form a shield.

Victoriously smirking, Marie added "Since I'm being attacked, I can sacrifice Winged Kuriboh LV10 and destroy all your monsters in attack mode, then I can deal you damage equal to the destroyed monsters' attack points! Good game Illidan, but I win this round."

"Not quite yet Marie!" Illidan declared. "I play my face down, the spell Mystik Wok! Thanks to this, I can sacrifice one of my monsters and add either their attack or defense points to my life points. I choose my Silent Magician, meaning I gain 3500 life points, and you lose one target!"

Glowing brightly with white light, the mage in white instantly turned into a beam of white light that fired at Illidan's Duel Disk. His life points quickly climbed, once the beam was gone.

Growling lightly, Marie replied "No matter, your Black Luster Soldier is still going down! Show him what you got!"

Letting out a loud 'Kree' sound, the large winged creature shot a beam of white light at the black armored warrior. The warrior simply vanished in the blast while Illidan was struck by the remainder of the white light, making him cover his face and brace himself till it finally ended.

Slightly panting, Illidan looked up at Marie's now bare field, along with his own. Taking the last card from his hand, he slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, dejectedly saying "I set this monster and end." (Marie 13500, Illidan 6200)

"Wow, Commander Stormrage dodged a major bullet that turn." Hasselberry exclaimed.

"I'll say, I thought Professor Marie had him for sure that time." Alexis remarked.

Nodding, Jaden added "It was close, but I knew he'd survive, somehow."

"Still, things aren't looking good for that bloke." Jim admonished. "He's got plenty of points, but with his wife in hot pursuit, I'd say he has his hands full."

"That's a major ten-four on that one." Hasselberry commented.

Looking between her aunt and uncle, Mariah lightly smiled, whispering "The two of you are having the time of your lives. You each get such a thrill from dueling one another, I know it."

On the field, Marie picked up her new card and slapped it instantly to her Duel Disk, declaring "I summon Shining Angel (1400/800)!"

A new blonde haired angel with golden wings appeared onto the field.

"Go, attack his face down monster with Shining Fist!"

Rushing forward with incredible speed, the angel slammed his fist into the face down horizontal card image, shattering it and revealing a black locomotive with a strange looking face and smoke pouring out of it before it exploded.

Covering his face from the explosion, Illidan smirked and said "Thanks for flipping up Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000). When you did that, I get to draw one card."

Picking up a card, Illidan smirked while Marie shrugged. "Not like it's going to help you anyways. I set a card face down and end my turn." (Marie 13500, Illidan 6200)

Drawing his new card, Illidan instantly jammed it into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I play the spell Premature Burial, allowing me to pay 800 life points and return a monster from my Graveyard to play. My pick is my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000)!"

Reappearing onto the field was the black locomotive with a sinister sneer on it's face while it blew out black coal smoke onto the field.

"Don't get used to him, because he's going away! I sacrifice him to summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"

Vanishing from the field in a blur of white light, the locomotive was quickly replaced by a large dull orange colored dragon with dull colored grey metal armor. It had short stubby wings, a spiked mace on it's tail, and gloved clawed hands. The dragon let out a bit of a roar, trying hard to instill fear.

"Armed Dragon, attack her Shining Angel with Infernal Roar!"

Roaring loudly, the large orange dragon charged forward and slashed the weaker blonde angel in half with the full force of both it's two clawed hands, making Marie shield her face from the explosion that ensued.

Smirking lightly, she confidently remarked "Not bad Illidan, but thanks to my field spell, I take zero Battle Damage. Also, thanks to that attack, I can activate Shining Angel's effect. I choose to special summon from my deck my final Shining Angel (1400/800)!"

Materializing onto the field where the former blonde angel had stood was a new one that held the same confidence as the last.

Shrugging, Illidan said "I move to my End Phase, in which my dragon's effect kicks in. Since he destroyed a monster in battle, he evolves to Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000)."

The large orange dragon on the field suddenly began to glow with a bright white light and began growing in size. When the light vanished, a new dark orange skinned dragon with dull grey armor appeared onto the field. This one had metallic wings, a long tail with a cylindrical like mace on the tip, strong legs with drills sticking from it's legs, and finally a strong head covered in semi-shiny metal armor that protected orange skin.

"That's enough for now." (Marie 13500, Illidan 5400)

Picking up her next card, Marie slapped it to her Duel Disk, coolly saying "I summon my Nova Summoner (1400/800)."

Appearing in a rainbow aura was a strange ring like orange and striped monster with bug like wings and a small green core. The creature lightly glowed with it's rainbow aura, seemingly waiting.

"I end my turn." (Marie 13500, Illidan 5400)

Nodding, Illidan drew his next card. Looking at it for a moment, he called out "Armed Dragon, take her Nova Summoner down with Dragon Talon Terror!"

Letting out a massive roar, the large orange dragon pulled back it's right arm and stepped forward. With a powerful thrust, the dragon struck the ring like creature hard, shattering it with ease.

With a light giggle, Marie calmly said "You've really done it now Illidan. When you destroyed Nova Summoner, it's effect went off. Now I can special summon a Light Attribute Fairy Type monster from my deck, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points, and the one I choose is none other than the almighty The Agent of Force – Mars (0/0)!"

Materializing onto the field was a new male angel with white wings, a tan and muscular body, long brown hair that reached his mid-back. He was wearing a red loincloth that reached his calves, white pants, and a teal colored bandanna. In his right hand was a black staff that had a sharp point on each side. With a loud battle cry, the angel took up an offensive position.

"You're finished now Illidan. With Mars on the field, his effects kick in. First off, he's unaffected by spell cards. Secondly, with my field spell out, he gains the difference in our life points. That total right now is 8100 (8100/8100)!"

The angel instantly began to glow with a blinding white aura and let out a loud battle cry while clenching his fists. Slowly, the glow died, but the aura still surrounded the fairy in a faint shimmer.

"Good game Illidan, but it's over. You can quit while you're ahead if you want." Marie quietly remarked.

Examining the card in his hand, Illidan smirked and placed the card onto his Duel Disk horizontally. "No thanks. I'll set a monster and end." (Marie 13500, Illidan 5400)

The entire crowd was in shock at the statement Illidan had made, plus were all in awe of Marie's powerful angel creature.

"What was he thinking!? He can't win now!" Chazz admonished.

"I agree Chazz, against that kind of superior firepower, Commander Stormrage is outgunned." Hasselberry concurred.

Looking down at the field with his lips pursed, Jaden mumbled "I guess he has a plan. But what, I want to know."

Knowing Jaden was concerned, Alexis squeezed his hand gently and softly said "Don't worry so much."

"I can't help it. I'm must curious to know why Illidan did that." Jaden replied with concern.

Across on the field, Marie examined Illidan's field carefully before drawing her card. Once more glancing at his field, Marie's forehead furrowed.

"_What was he thinking? I can nearly wipe him out in one attack, so why take this risk? Is it a gamble, or has he lost interest?_"

Shaking her head lightly, she answered her own question instantly. "_No, he's not lost interest and decided to quit. He'd never do that, especially against me. I'm guessing he has a plan, but what?_"

Returning from her thoughts, she pointed at the weaker dragon, declaring "Attack his Armed Dragon now Mars with Forceful Strike!"

Rushing forward with his staff in firm grip in both hands, the powerful fairy leapt into the air and came flying down with his staff first. The staff struck the powerful dark orange dragon, making it howl in pain before exploding. A large explosion ensued that covered Illidan and almost his entire end of the dueling ring. The crowd all gasped in shock at the size of the explosion.

Slowly, bit by bit, the smoke from the explosion began to clear, revealing that Illidan was flat on his back while his remaining horizontal monster card image was still before him. His life point counter quickly dropped downwards, leaving most of the crowd in shock.

Marie could only stare at Illidan with worry filling her eyes. "_Illidan, please be alright!_" she cried out in her mind.

After a few moments, he began to stir and slowly sat up with difficulty. Panting heavily, he moved to his hands and knees. With pain washing over his face, he stood up in a hunched over position with his hands resting on his knees while panting still.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he straightened and weakly asked "Is that all?"

Somewhat shocked by his words, Marie bristled up with anger and snapped back "Forgive me for worrying about you! If you're going to be snippy about it, I'll finish this duel! Go Shining Angel, take his last line of defense out with Golden Strike!"

Rushing forward at a fast speed through the air, the blonde haired angel pulled back his right fist and began sending golden energy into it. Coming down fast, the angel struck the horizontal card image, shattering it and revealing a new locomotive creature that was spewing thick black smoke before exploding.

Weakly chuckling, Illidan smartly said "Thanks, now that you destroyed my second Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000), I can draw a new card."

Watching Illidan snap off a new card and add it to his left hand, Marie huffed loudly. "You may have survived that turn, but don't think you're out of the woods yet. Don't forget, since our scores changed, Mars gains points (13400/13400). I end my turn." (Marie 13500, Illidan 100)


	14. Chapter 14: Lovers Spat, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! This past weekend was pretty cool. Friday, of course as you all know from my last posting, was my birthday. That night, I helped out with a dinner for Mother's Day, which wasn't too bad. It was hot in the place it was in though (an armory, with no air conditioning), and silly me, I wore a long sleeved shirt due that it was cool outside due to the rain. I was extremely warm, needless to say, lol. After all of it though, it was cool. I celebrated the rest of the evening with my mate, which was nice. On Saturday, me and my mate went up to my grandparent's home and visited. My mom, sister, and her boyfriend/intended (lol, I'm unsure what to call him since they seem close to tying the knot someday) were there, and we celebrated mine and my grandmother's birthday. We have the same birthday, oddly enough, but that's rather cool too. My grandfather was doing pretty good, and was rather talkative. I hung out with my sister's boyfriend, who is pretty cool. We're in the same field, so it's nice to talk with people on stuff, plus he's rather cool also, which is a plus, hehe. Oh yeah, I talked with my mom, who is going to the beach this year with my sister and her boyfriend, and we may go the same week as each other. Nothing has been solidified, but it'd be cool since we know no one else down there and were going alone. So, good times all around. Sunday, I celebrated Mother's Day over at my dad and step mom's. I felt bad for my step mom though. She recently lost her dad last month, and then last year she lost her mom. I brought her a card, but was hesitant to give it to her due that I didn't want to upset her, but it worked out. I spent most of the evening at their home and eventually went home to my mate, who had to work. Anyways, nothing else has really happened, so coolness.**

**Writing wise, eh, not much to report on this story. I'm coming up with ideas for duels in it, but I haven't really written them down quite yet. As for **_**Another**_**, it is getting my attention currently so that I don't have to worry too much about running out of chapters on it. Heh, that's just something I worry about on all my stories, lol. I guess that's due that normally I usually finish a story, or am nearly finished with it, before I post. But oh well, it'll work out.**

**Last time around, Illidan and Marie's duel began, with each of the two lovers coming out of the gate hard and fast. Illidan summoned one of his Chaos fusion monsters first, only to have it struck down by Marie. Now Illidan is down to 100 life points, while Marie has 13,500 life points. Can Illidan overcome the major gap, or will Marie win the duel and their bet?**

**Alright, it's time once more! That's right, it's Review Time!**

**Raymond Barrett: Yeah, the ending with Illidan and Kevin was something, but now Illidan and Marie are dueling it out. Heh, you've been waiting to see the happy couple duel, eh? Well, it's happening, and thus far, Illidan is getting beaten to death by Marie and her fairies, lol. Yeah, a monster with 13400 attack points would be hard to beat… Thanks for the review!**

**Quaresma: Why hello, and welcome to the reviews. Heh, Illidan's "secret spell card" hasn't come out yet, although he doesn't have any real secret spell cards, lol, other than maybe Chaos Fusion. Warglaives? Lol, not sure when he'll unleash that, if ever, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: So true that Ring of Destruction plus Barrel Behind the Door (Spell of Pain) would come in handy, but alas, Illidan doesn't use that combo, sadly, lol. True, Illidan is facing off with a monster that has 13400 attack points while he only has 100 life points. One would assume that taking out Sanctuary of the Sky would be the best bet, but no one knows. Well, only I know, and ardee, but that's it! Lol, I know, me silly. Heh, true, Jaden's comment makes one think about the word "draw", but you never know. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. Yeah, the happy couple is having a small spat over how Arya is being brought up. True, you can understand both sides of the argument easily, with Marie thinking Arya needs to be priority one while Illidan thinks himself and Marie are number one, with Arya a close second. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yeah, Illidan's getting the beating of his life from the hands of his wife. Sounds pleasurable, lol. Yes, he may come back, at least he hopes so… Nah, it wasn't an anniversary of any kind last Friday. Just mine and my grandmother's birthday. Heh, yeah, I'm 25. Nothing new at this age, other than my car insurance goes down, hehe. I had a nice one. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yes, nothing like a spat to make a duel more intense than anyone thought it would be. True, Chazz hasn't complained about Illidan's use of the Armed Dragons, but then again, Illidan was using them long before Chazz came along, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all the reviews. Thank you all for the reviews. I really enjoyed the feedback I got on this chapter. And to any that didn't review, but have opinions, comments, or questions, do feel free to review or PM me. I'm more than happy to answer any kind of feedback I get, other than ones that ask me to reveal the plot, in which I'll just kindly give you a mysterious answer. I know, that's cruel, but that's just me, lol.**

**That's it for me today, so I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 14**

"Wow, I can't believe he made it through that!" Jesse exclaimed.

Looking at Illidan with hard eyes, Axel remarked "He truly is one hard customer. To survive a shot like that and get back up, I don't know whether to say he's a fool or applaud him for his courage."

"I'd say this duel is over though. No one could mount a comeback after taking that much damage." Adrian stated.

Staring at Illidan, Jaden lightly chuckled and replied "You don't know Illidan well enough Adrian. Illidan will pull through, I know it."

On the field, Illidan looked at the card in his hand and softly smirked. "Alright Marie, let's see what else I have for you!" he declared while drawing a card.

Staring at the new card, he chuckled softly and turned it towards Marie. "I start by playing the spell Pot of Greed, meaning I can draw two cards."

Picking up two new cards, Illidan turned one towards Marie and smugly said "Check this out, I play Chaos Revisited! Thanks to this spell, I can give up half of my life points and bring out a monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile without paying attention to it's summoning requirements. The monster I choose is none other than my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Reappearing onto the field once more was the black armored warrior with a bronze sword and powerful shield.

"I'm not done yet, for I play the spell Heavy Storm! This destroys all spell and trap cards on both our sides, meaning your field spell is out of here!"

Marie could only gasp in shock while watching a strong set of winds begin blowing up. The beautiful sky scenery vanished, along with the building behind her, revealing the original arena. Instantly, the tan angel's body began glowing with a dark aura.

Pointing at the weakening angel, Illidan declared "Without Sanctuary of the Sky in play, your Mars's effect is nullified, meaning his points go back to their original ones, which is zero (0/0)."

Clenching her jaw, Marie glared at Illidan while her angel's power fell down to zero. With a bit of a smirk on his face, Illidan called out "Black Luster Soldier, go attack Mars now with Chaos Slash!"

Rushing forward with his sword out to his right side, the warrior quickly crossed the field and was upon the tanned angel quickly. Without hesitation, the warrior slashed his sword across the chest of the angel, making the angel cry out in pain before exploding into pieces.

"I'm not done yet, for once my monster attacks, his special ability kicks in! He can attack again, so take out Shining Angel!"

Still standing in the spot he had been in before the other angel exploded, the black armored warrior turned towards the blonde angel and vanished. He immediately reappeared behind him a moment later. The angel was about to react when three red blade marks became visible on his body, causing him to scream out in pain and explode into millions of pieces.

Growling lightly, Marie called out "Thanks to destroying Shining Angel, I can special summon a new Light Attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck. I think I'll pick this, my Nova Summoner (1400/800)."

Materializing onto the field was a new strange ring like orange and striped monster with bug like wings and a small green core with it's rainbow aura.

Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, Illidan lightly chuckled and said "I'll place this face down and end. Don't count me out yet Marie, because I'm in it to win it." (Marie 8900, Illidan 50)

"Those were some sweet moves!" Jaden exclaimed with bright eyes.

Nodding, Jesse added "He just bought himself some time to regroup and maybe pull out a win."

"I wouldn't count Professor Marie out yet though." Bastion admonished.

"Yeah, my aunt isn't one to fall out of a duel after losing one monster." Mariah added.

"Still," Alexis began, "Professor Illidan has a long way to go before he can beat her."

The entire group all nodded at her statement and returned their eyes to the fierce duel.

Drawing her next card, Marie examined it before slapping a monster to her Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0) in defense."

A fairy with golden skin and blonde hair, as well as golden wings appeared onto the field. She wore a green dress with some gold mixed into it. In front of her were three spheres, one which was blue, another red, and finally a purple one. They were hovering in a triangle like position in front of her body.

"With her special ability, I'm allowed to give up 500 life points in order to special summon a monster known as Mystical Shine Ball from my deck or hand. I give up 1500 life points in order to special summon all three from my deck (500/500)."

Pulling her deck out, Marie sifted through it till she finally found the cards she desired and slapped all three horizontally onto her Duel Disk. One by one, three spheres that were holding a shining glow within their sphere forms and were surrounded by swirling white clouds appeared.

"To end, I'll switch Nova Summoner to defense and place one card face down." (Marie 7400, Illidan 50)

Glancing over Marie's field, Illidan lightly eyed the new monsters. "_I bet she's trying to stall me since her spell's effect kicks in next turn. No matter, I'll get through, one way or another._"

Taking a deep breath, he calmly drew his card and glanced back up at Marie's field. Analyzing it for a moment, he finally placed the card onto his Duel Disk and said "I'll begin by summoning this, my Exarion Universe (1800/1900)."

Materializing onto the field was a half man, half horse creature, with the human half having green skin. He wore thick bluish-grey armor that covered his head, shoulders, upper chest, and most of his horse half's back. His four horse legs were brown, with a black tail hanging off his backside. On his left hand was a thick hunk of armor that was a heavy looking weapon and in his right hand was a lance with red blades on both ends.

"By cutting Exarion's attack points by 400 (1800 – 400 1400/1900), he can deal you damage equal to the difference in his attack points and your monster's defense points, or in essence, Trample Damage." Illidan explained. Pointing at the weaker sphere creature, he called out "Exarion, attack that Mystical Shine Ball with Man-Beast Slash!"

Letting out a fierce yell, the half man, half horse warrior galloped forward. Arriving at his destination, he slashed the weaker sphere with his lance, sending a blade of energy straight from it to Marie, who cringed lightly. The cloud sphere immediately exploded, leaving only two more.

"Black Luster Soldier, take out Venus with Chaos Slash!"

Swinging his sword out to his right side, the black armored warrior began running towards the opposite side of the field. In a flash, he vanished, only to reappear behind the golden winged angel. She soon enough let out a scream of pain as three bright red slash marks appeared on her body. Instantly, she exploded into millions of pieces, leaving nothing behind.

"Attack again Black Luster Soldier! This time take out one of those Mystical Shine Balls!"

Vanishing once more, the black armored warrior reappeared behind one of the spheres of shining energy. The sphere almost immediately exploded, leaving only one sphere left and the ring like creature.

"I think that's enough for now. Since I'm ending my turn, Exarion's attack points return to normal (1400 + 400 1800/1900)." (Marie 6500, Illidan 50)

Quietly drawing her card, Marie examined it, only to be interrupted by Illidan. "I hate to inform you Marie, but this is your fifth turn since you played Card of Demise. Now you must discard your entire hand to the Graveyard."

Shrugging, Marie placed the card into her Graveyard Slot and smugly remarked "It's true, it was my fifth turn, but I activate a trap! Go trap card, Disgraceful Charity! With this, I can return the card I just discarded."

Glowing with a golden glow, Marie's Graveyard Slot slowly pushed the card back out and into her awaiting hand. Taking it up, she showed it to Illidan and said "I play Pot of Greed, meaning I get a few new cards."

Grabbing two new cards, Marie lightly smirked. "I'm sacrificing both Nova Summoner and my last Mystical Shine Ball to summon Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!"

Both the ring creature and the sphere of shining energy vanished in a flash to give way to a female angel with pink satin skin, who wore a white dress that showed her many curves and golden wings.

"Joan, destroy Exarion to win me this duel with Golden Wing Burst!"

The pink skinned angel's wings instantly began to glow a bright golden color as energy began building within them. Bolts of energy instantly began pouring off of the wings and into a sphere in front of the pink skinned angel. Slowly, the golden sphere formed and began to glow brightly. Pushing her hands behind the sphere, the angel gave a shove, sending it hurtling towards the weaker half man, half horse creature.

"Game over Illidan!" Marie declared victoriously.

Smirking, Illidan replied "Don't make that victory speech just yet! I play my trap, Draining Shield! You should remember this little card, seeing how you played it against me earlier. Now your attack is negated and I add your monster's attack points to my life points!"

A barrier of golden energy instantly formed before the half man, half horse creature. The barrier took the full brunt of the oncoming sphere of golden energy. Bit by bit, the sphere was absorbed by the barrier and a stream of golden energy flowed to Illidan's Duel Disk, causing his life point counter to jump up greatly.

Growling with frustration evident, Marie angrily jammed a card into her Spell/Trap Slot and grumbled "I end." (Marie 6500, Illidan 2850)

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jaden mumbled "That was a close one."

"I'll say. Professor Marie almost had Professor Illidan that time around, but he skillfully dodged her." Bastion commented.

"That's my uncle for you. He always finds a way to keep alive." Mariah said with a bit of pride.

Tipping his hat, Jim added with his heavy Australian accent "This duel is very exciting. Makes me wish I was down there myself dueling."

"They're nothing special compared to The Chazz." Chazz bragged.

Raising an eyebrow, Adrian replied with dripping sarcasm "Yeah, they're nothing compared to a guy who lost early in the tournament…"

"SHUT IT!" Chazz roared back.

Smirking, Adrian challengingly said "Make me. Oh wait, you tried that and lost to me."

Ignoring the squabbling pair, Jaden's focus remained on the two duelists. "_Man, I just got to wonder how those two feel about this._"

On the field, Illidan stared at Marie while she did the same at him. Smiling genuinely, he asked "Marie, this duel has been rather fun, don't you agree?"

Her lips formed a smile slowly and replied "Yes, it has been thus far. I must admit, I'm having fun. Still, I won't go down to you in this duel."

"You almost always end up going down at home…" Illidan smartly remarked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

Blushing furiously, Marie shouted "Shut up about that! There are children here for crying out loud!"

"What's he talking about?" Jaden asked while scratching his head.

Most of the group, the older of the group, all blushed, but remained quiet. "I wouldn't worry about it mate…" Jim finally spoke up with blush still across his face.

Back on the field, Illidan chuckled at his flustered wife and drew his card. "Hold those thoughts for tonight. In the meantime, I'll attack Joan with Black Luster Soldier! Go Chaos Slash!"

Letting out a battle cry, the black armored warrior rushed towards the pink skinned angel, who looked terrified. He quickly vanished from sight, but reappeared behind her. Three red slash marks soon appeared on her body before she exploded into millions of pieces.

"He's not through, because now he can attack you directly!"

Looking up at Marie, the warrior rushed forward and slashed her across the chest, making her cry out in pain and hold her chest.

"Sorry to be so rough, but to win I have to be. Exarion, direct attack her!"

Galloping towards Marie, the half man, half horse creature let out a small battle cry and raised his lance up to strike her.

Before the attack could hit, Marie pointed at her face down and growled out "I'm not taking a second direct attack! I play the trap Miraculous Descent! This trap allows me to special summon one removed from play Fairy Type monster to my field. You removed him early, so I think it's only fitting that he returns now. Welcome back Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin (2300/2000)!"

Reappearing onto the field was the fairy decked out in heavy grey and blue armor with sharp blades on his arms.

Lightly growling with irritation, Illidan calmly smiled and said "I'll end my turn for now." (Marie 3300, Illidan 2850)

Drawing her next card, Marie smirked and devilishly grinned at Illidan. "You'll pay for that comment you made last turn. I activate the equip spell United We Stand, which grants Neo-Parshath an additional 800 points per a monster on my field. Right now I have one, but that's all I need (2300 + 800 3100/2000 + 800 2800)! Attack his Black Luster Soldier with Paladin Slash!"

Glowing brightly with golden energy, the heavily armored angel moved forward at blinding speed towards the black armored warrior. The vision of him slashing the warrior across the chest barely registered to most till the black armored warrior cried out in pain and exploded into millions of pieces.

Watching her monster return, Marie calmly said "Since he just did a little Battle Damage, I get to draw one card."

Picking up the card, Marie grinned like a Cheshire cat and held her Duel Disk vertical. "I just drew this, my Sanctuary of the Sky! I once again activate it!"

Tapping the end of her Duel Disk, the slot shot out and she placed the card within it. The slot quickly closed and the Duel Disk glowed with rainbow energy. Once more, the scenery of the field changed, returning to the blue sky with white fluffy clouds and the ancient building behind Marie.

"Remember, in here, when my Fairy Type monsters are destroyed in battle, I take zero Battle Damage. Also, Neo-Parshath's effect kicks in, giving him points equal to the difference in our life points. Right now, it's only 550, but still, that's more than enough to give you trouble (3100 + 550 3650/2800 + 550 3350). I end my turn." (Marie 3300, Illidan 2750)

"What a duel mates!" Jim declared with a smirk. "Those two just won't give it up."

"I'll say. No matter what one does to the other, they both keep on fighting." Axel remarked with a small smile.

Further down in the crowd, Zane stoically said "It looks like Marie has finally regained the edge in this little fight."

Nodding lightly, Yugi added "She is a tough one, I'll give her that much. No matter what, she doesn't quit."

Turning his gaze towards Illidan, Yugi smiled and added "But still, Illidan won't go down so easily either. He'll fight it out till he's out of points."

"I just wish those two would finish so we can begin." Seto grumbled, earning him a small chuckle from the others.

Back on the field, Illidan stared at Marie's field and then at his own deck. "Here goes…" he mumbled while drawing a card. "I set one card and end my turn." (Marie 3300, Illidan 2750)

Drawing her cards with her brow furrowed, Marie asked "Why did you just do that?"

"It's all I could do." Illidan dryly remarked.

Frowning still, Marie sighed and growled out "Fine then, I'll just finish this duel. I start by summoning my Freya, Spirit of Victory (100/100) in defense."

Materializing onto the field in a small flash was a girl with violet colored hair that reached her shoulders with a red flower tucked in by her right ear, wearing a mostly violet and black sleeveless dress that was mid-thigh length with black sleeves that came up to nearly her armpits, large golden hoop rings on her wrists and ankles, and large pink pompoms in each hand.

"Check this out, while she's on the field and another Fairy Type monster is too, she can't be attacked. Plus, while she's on the field, all Fairy Type monsters gain 400 points (100 + 400 500/100 + 400 500) (3650 + 400 4050/3350 + 400 3750). Also, since I just played another monster, United We Stand gives Neo-Parshath an additional 800 more points (4050 + 800 4850/3750 + 800 4550)!"

Glowing brightly with a golden aura, the mighty warrior angel let out a battle cry and brought his blade arms up to do battle.

"Let's end this. Neo-Parshath, attack Exarion Universe with Paladin Slash!"

Crying out with a roar of battle, the heavily armored angel rushed forward with his blade arms ready to strike.

With only a few feet left, Marie declared "Game over Illidan!"

"Not on my watch!" Illidan responded. "Go trap, Rising Energy! I discard a card from my hand and now, my Exarion gains 1500 attack points (1800 + 1500 3300/1900)!"

Glowing with a dark red aura, the half man, half horse's power increased, but the angel warrior easily cleaved him in half, causing a large explosion when the monster shattered.

With the dust settling, Marie frowned and asked "Why did you do that? You knew your monster couldn't beat mine, so why bother?"

"Simple really." Illidan remarked with a small smile. "I was minimizing damage. I'm still here, which is what I was going for."

"Whatever…" Marie ground out. "Thanks to Neo-Parshath, I draw one card."

Drawing her card, she placed it into her Spell/Trap Slot and flatly said "I place this card face down and I'm done. Just don't forget, Neo-Parshath gets stronger thanks to the new difference (4300 + 2100 6400/4000 + 2100 6100)." (Marie 3300, Illidan 1200)

"Sam Hill, Commander Stormrage is about to fall to his Second in Command!" Hasselberry exclaimed.

"Great Scott, this will be an upset if ever there was one!" Bastion added with equal enthusiasm.

Huffing lightly, Chazz muttered "It's no big deal. We all knew he didn't wear the pants in that relationship."

Scratching his head, Jaden asked "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Alexis squeezed his hand and replied "Ignore him, Jaden."

"I suppose." Jaden commented. Returning his view to Illidan, he smirked and said "He'll still win guys, just wait."

Frowning, Jesse replied "I hate to burst your bubble Jay, but how is he going to win? He has nothing to beat that monster of hers."

"Just you wait Jesse. Illidan will fight on and win this yet, I know it. It's just a gut feeling I have." Jaden responded.

The group all shrugged and was unsure in Jaden's assessment. All returned their view to the field, hoping to see what Illidan would do next.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan softly asked "Marie, this duel has been fun, don't you agree?"

"It has Illidan." she replied with a small smile. "And it will be even better when I win next turn."

Drawing his new card, Illidan wistfully said "We'll see about that. In the meantime, I play the spell Card of Sanctity! With this, we each draw till we hold six cards."

Both duelists instantly began picking up cards, with both Illidan and Marie grabbing six each. Placing all their newly acquired cards into their left hands, the two stared off at one another after glancing at their cards.

Confidently, Illidan called out "I think it is time to end this Marie. It begins with me removing from play my Silent Magician LV4 and Exarion Universe in order to summon my Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000)!"

Slapping the new monster card to his Duel Disk, Illidan watched with pride while a creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes appeared onto the field. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well. Once fully on the field, the monster let out a small battle cry and took his place before Illidan.

"I activate his special ability. Now by not attacking this turn, my Chaos Sorcerer can remove from play a monster on the field. My target shouldn't be too surprising. It's Neo-Parshath!"

Raising his right arm above his head and lowering his left to his stomach, the purple skinned mage sent power coursing into his palms. A black glow appeared in his left hand, while a white glow appeared in his right. Widening his golden eyes, he shot a beam of energy from each hand at the heavily armored angel.

Before the blast could even make it halfway across the field, Marie pointed at her face down card, causing it to reveal itself. "Not happening Illidan, because I play the spell Tyrant's Rise! By sacrificing two monsters on my field, I can special summon my Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) from my hand, deck, or Graveyard. Since he's right here in my hand, I play him to the field!"

Vanishing from the field together were the weaker fairy and heavily armored one, which dodged the oncoming twin blasts due to disappearing. With both vanishing, a roaring dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around it's face, and a strong tail materialized onto the field. The dragon landed in front of Marie and let out a massive roar, showing it's eagerness for battle.

"Thanks to me summoning Tyrant Dragon by this card, he's unaffected by spell, trap, or monster effects for this whole turn. Sorry Illidan, you're not going to win this duel." Marie smugly remarked.

Shrugging, Illidan replied "It doesn't matter really Marie, because I'll win this duel. I play the spell Magical Stone Excavation! With this, I must toss out two cards from my hand to my Graveyard in order to return a spell card from my Graveyard. I toss out these two cards and return Chaos Control."

Placing two cards into his Graveyard Slot, Illidan watched while both were sucked into it. Once in, the slot glowed and a card pushed out. Taking the card into his right hand, he pulled his Duel Disk vertical and tapped the end of it, causing a slot to shoot out.

"I activate Chaos Control!" he declared while placing the card into the slot. Instantly, the clear blue sky of the field was shattered, along with the building behind Marie. Replacing the cleared field was a set of storm clouds with lightning flashing in them, a desert, and a cave behind Illidan.

"Thanks to Chaos Control, I can special summon a monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name once per a turn from my hand, deck, Graveyard, or removed from play pile. Of course, I can't enter my Draw Phase, but oh well. I'll begin by summoning from my deck my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field was a blue skinned mage with closed eyes, wearing tight fitting black leather armor that covered all of his body except his face. Long black hair flowed down his back, with a strange mage's hat on his head and a black staff in his right hand. Revealing his eyes, it was seen that he had yellow corneas with red irises.

"You do have a point to all this madness, don't you Illidan?" Marie impatiently asked. "After all, neither of your monsters have enough attack points to attack my Tyrant Dragon."

Smirking lightly, Illidan nodded, replying with "That's true, but I'm about to change that. I activate Dark Magician of Chaos's effect. This allows me to return one spell from my Graveyard, and I think I'll pick my Chaos Fusion."

Immediately, Illidan's Graveyard Slot began glowing with a white light while a single card slid out. Picking the card up with his right hand, he showed it to Marie and said "I activate Chaos Fusion, allowing me to fuse together my Chaos Sorcerer and Dark Magician of Chaos to form…"

Swirling together, the blue skinned mage and the purple skinned one vanished, causing a blinding purple light to fill the air. Slowly, the light died down, revealing a new mage wearing black robes with a set of black leather armor underneath, black gloves and boots, and a scepter in his hands that had a rounded knob at the top of it. His hair, which was black, reached his mid-back and was bound in a ponytail. His skin was blue with demon markings on his face, and his eyes had yellow corneas and red irises.

"… my Chaos Magician – Envoy of Time (2900/2600)!"

Staring at the new mage, Marie frowned and mumbled "He has the same attack points as my dragon, so why bother summoning him?"

"I have a good reason my dearest Marie." Illidan replied. "It's time for Chaos Magician to strut his stuff by playing his special ability! First off, I can take one spell or trap card from either of our Graveyards and place it in my hand."

"Big deal, no spell, trap, or monster effects can harm Tyrant Dragon for this turn." Marie huffed.

Nodding, Illidan smiled and said "True, but who said I was picking a card that affects Tyrant Dragon? I have bigger plans, so I pick your United We Stand!"

Gasping in shock, Marie had no time to react when suddenly her Graveyard Slot glowed to life and shot the card out towards Illidan. Catching it expertly, he showed it to her, saying "I play United We Stand, and equip it to Chaos Magician, giving him an extra 800 points (2900 + 800 3700/2600 + 800 3400)!"

Glowing with a golden aura, the mage let out a small cry while gathering up his newly found strength.

"I would activate my mage's second ability, but it's pointless since your monster would negate it." Illidan stated. "No matter though. I'll just get rid of your dragon the old fashioned way! Go, attack her Tyrant Dragon with Chaos Time Blast!"

Pointing his staff at the dark orange dragon, the mage fired a blast of purple magical energy. The blast struck the dragon hard, making it howl in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

Growling, Marie snarled "You'll pay for that next turn!"

"There isn't a next turn." Illidan dryly replied. "This duel ends now thanks to this card."

Showing it to Marie, she stared at him with wide eyes. "No…" she mumbled in shock.

"That's right Marie, I'm activating the spell De-Fusion! Now my mage comes apart and the two monsters I used to fuse him together return. So welcome back Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000) and Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Glowing lightly, the black haired mage vanished while two spheres of light appeared in his place. The spheres soon took shape of the purple skinned mage and the blue skinned mage that had on the field previously.

"It's over Marie." Illidan lightly remarked.

Looking downwards at the ground, Marie clenched her right fist and finally looked back up at Illidan. "I see it is. Finish this."

Nodding, Illidan softly said "Dark Magician of Chaos, end this duel."

Glancing back at his master, the mage nodded and leapt into the air. Pointing his staff at Marie, the mage fired a blast of black magical energy. The blast struck her head on, making her cry out a bit and fall down to one knee. Her life points instantly drained down to zero, causing her Duel Disk power down. The monsters on Illidan's field then vanished into thin air while his Duel Disk powered down itself.

"Ladies and gents, we have a winner and our first Finalist! Give it up for Illidan Stormrage!" Pegasus declared, which caused the crowd to burst into applause.

Ignoring the crowd and the approaching Pegasus, Illidan walked over to Marie and squatted down to her eye level. Softly smiling, he quietly said "Good duel."

Looking up into his dark chocolate eyes, Marie finally smiled and replied "Yes, it was a good duel. I suppose since I lost, I owe you."

"Marie, before you think I want Arya out of our life, let me explain. Arya will be with us for most of our life, but once she grows up, she'll move out and be on her own. We will only have one another, and our relationship is a lifetime. That's why I made that bet to move Arya to her room. If we neglect one another, we'll grow distant, which will only grow over time. Do you understand?" Illidan questioned.

Taking in his words, Marie softly smiled and nodded. "I understand now. You don't wish to grow apart, only continue to grow closer."

Getting a nod in reply, Marie replied "I see. Then we will do that. And since I lost, I will do as you ask. I'll try and let Arya have a little independence."

"And I'll compromise a little with you Marie. I'll remodel her room still."

Giggling, Marie softly said "Ok, I can live with that."

"Good." Illidan remarked while offering her a hand. Taking it, he pulled her to her feet and the two shook hands and hugged one another, earning them a loud roar of applause from the crowd.


	15. Chapter 15: Rivals Clash, Pt 1

**Hey everyone! Well, this week has been decent. Nothing has really happened that I'm going to comment on, so moving alone.**

**Writing wise, not much to report here either. Mostly just been picking away at **_**Another**_** and thinking up things for **_**MtM**_**, but other than that, nothing really.**

**Last time, Illidan defeated Marie in a tough duel. At the end, he explained his thoughts a bit better to Marie, who accepted the loss and the consequences of her bet with Illidan. Now the legendary rivals are about to take the stage. What will happen?**

**Alright, moving along, it's review time!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: LOL! Yes, think of the children, they're being thought of, just not cared about, lol. Eh, Jaden didn't know his parents. In **_**FG**_**, I had Jaden say that his mom and died a year apart, his dad on his day of birth, and his mom a year later from an aneurism. The poor kid never got to know them, but now he has Illidan and Marie, so what could go wrong… other than many things, lol. Yes, De-Fusion has won many duels, including that one, lol. Yes, Tyrant's Rise is an original card I made up. I thought it might help Marie out in bringing her Tyrant Dragon out a little easier. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yep, he won despite Marie's huge advantage early on, lol. Yeah, it's not too surprising, I suppose. Lol, yes, Jaden maybe a little too clueless, but then again, he has always been that way in the show, hehe. Viper's master is still a mystery. Things might be explained sooner or later though, lol. I know, thanks for being mysterious as always. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, yes, I had fun writing that last chapter. It was interesting at times, to say the least. LMAO! Very true, Marie seems to wear the pants in that family, with her being as fierce as Tyrant Dragon sometimes, hehe. Glad you liked the last couple of chapters, and yes, now it's time for Yugi and Kaiba to show everyone what they got. Eh, hard to tell if Illidan could rebuild his deck in the current times. I kept the bans out of these stories due that it was too much work to rewrite everything, lol. Plus, Illidan would lose his signature Chaos monsters, which he played without for most of the last story. Btw, I'll try and remember to get back with you on your scene you wrote out. Both me and Marie loved it, but like I said, I'll get back with you on it. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: LOL! Yes, Jaden is rather dense. I'm not sure how goofy he is in the fourth season, but I'm sure he still has a bit of denseness. He is kind of different in that season though, so eh, I don't know, lol. Glad you liked the duel, and you never know, Yubel could appear, or could not. I know, lovely mysteriousness as always from me, lol. Thanks for the review.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you all for them, I really appreciated them. I really liked reading them. At any rate, if anyone hasn't reviewed but wishes to express their opinion, comment, or questions, don't hesitate to review or PM me. I'll do my best to answer, so long as they don't give away the plot.**

**I'm done for today, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 15**

Taking their seats in the stands, Illidan and Marie smiled at one another and said their hello's to their nearby friends. Upon reaching the seats, Kaiba and Yugi had begun their own descent towards the dueling ring.

Smiling, Joey offered Illidan and Marie each high fives. Both accepted, with the duelist excitedly saying "That was an awesome duel guys! You two put on a great show!"

"Thanks Joey." Marie quietly remarked.

Throwing an appeasing smile, Mai commented "You did great hun. You have nothing to be ashamed of for that loss."

Lightly smiling, Marie nodded and replied "Thank you Mai. It was a great duel, wasn't it Illidan?"

"Sure was." Illidan commented. "I had lots of fun out there. Now I have a feeling we're going to witness firsthand another great duel."

The four all nodded and returned their attention to both Yugi and Seto, who were slowly approaching the duel ring.

With their slow strides, the crowd suddenly got anxious and began simultaneously cheering out both "Yugi!" and "Kaiba!" for both duelists. Neither said a thing nor paid attention, but the crowd could feel the tension building.

Arriving at the ring together, the two made their way into it, with Pegasus blaring into the microphone "Ladies and gents, we are about to witness a rivalry that has made Duel Monsters legendary. This rivalry has drawn hype each and every time the two have clashed. The only rivalry that I speak of is Seto Kaiba vs. Yugi Moto, the two titans of dueling!"

The crowd loudly cheered at Pegasus's words and made the arena become deafening. Smiling at the audiences cheers, Pegasus cut in and said "Prepare to be dazzled, for this duel will be one to remember for all ages! The first turn goes to Yugi Moto, so when you two are ready, shuffle your decks and move into position."

Obediently, the two moved into position, each still quiet. Pulling their decks out, they shuffled and finally slid them into their Duel Disks' Deck Slot. Holding their left arms out and up, both Duel Disks fired up and powered on. The two drew their first five cards and stared one another down while Pegasus ran out of the duel ring.

"Duelists, begin!" Pegasus declared loudly.

Staring at one another, the two smirked. In a bold statement, Kaiba said "Things will end differently this time, Yugi. There are no Egyptian God Cards to help you."

"I don't need God Cards to beat you." Yugi sharply remarked.

Hearing Kaiba and Yugi's opening remarks, Illidan smiled inwardly. "_Yugi sounds so much like Yami that it's hard to believe he's not really here. All that confidence and courage is shining through him still after all this time._"

Together, Yugi and Seto cried out "LET'S DUEL!"

Drawing his sixth card, Yugi smirked lightly and said "I may have not dueled in a long time, Kaiba, but trust me, I still have it in me to beat you again."

"Brave words, Yugi." Kaiba remarked. "I just hope you haven't gotten too rusty."

"I'll show you just how rusty I am!" Yugi shot back. Placing the card he had drawn into his left hand, he picked another one up and slapped it to his Duel Disk. "I'll start by summoning my Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600) in attack mode!"

A yellow magnet creature with magnets for it's hands and feet, and a magnet wrapped around its head appeared onto the field.

Placing two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots, he said "I add two face down cards, and call it a turn." (Yugi 8000, Seto 8000)

Kaiba snorted at Yugi and drew his next card. Examining it, he grinned and mockingly said "Weak move, Yugi. I'll show you how a real champion duels."

With a grin, took four cards from his hand and showed them to Yugi, who instantly gasped in shock and felt a sweat drop slide down his face. In a bold voice, Kaiba shouted "I activate the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500), Versago the Destroyer (1100/900), and The Light – Hex – Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to summon my ultimate monster!"

"But he can't without the correct monsters." Joey mumbled in a bit of shock.

Knowing the crowd needed an explanation, Kaiba said "Whenever I am fusing monsters together, both Versago and The Light act as fusion substitutes for my monsters. Which means now rise up my almighty Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

The crowd went insane as a powerful white metallic looking dragon with blue eyes, sharp fangs and claws, and strong wings materialized. On each side of the dragon, two others emerged, the first being a green bandage wrap wraith with black hair that stood up, a white half egg shell like mask covering it's face with two eye holes, and purple wing like arms coming out of it's back. The other looked like a rock with a single arm sticking out with white light pouring off of it.

Suddenly, the three swirled together, blurring all three forms. A new form appeared in the three's place, and slowly came into view. It was a large three headed white metallic dragon with some kind of symbol on their foreheads, blue eyes, two powerful clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and a strong looking body. The dragon touched down onto the ground, causing each head to let out a massive roar that shook the very arena.

Illidan and Marie watched in shock and looked back and forth between themselves and Yugi. Joey, who was sitting next to Illidan, lowly grumbled "Why must he summon it on his first turn almost always?"

"He's Seto Kaiba, that's why." Zane remarked resentfully from beside of Marie. Glaring at Seto, Zane only grumbled in his mind over the loss, making it the third he had officially.

On the field, Yugi calmed himself quickly and stared at the colossal dragon when it roared at him once again.

"Obliterate his Magnet Warrior with Neutron Blast!" Seto declared with a maniacal laugh.

Each head of the mighty dragon roared loudly and opened their jaws. White energy instantly flooded their mouths and began building like lightning. In a thunderous shot, the three released a white energy beam, which formed into a larger one. The massive beam was about to slam into the yellow magnet creature when Yugi calmly pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate my face down spell, De-Fusion! This spell splits your dragon back into its three fusion components." he calmly explained.

The audience gasped as the attack suddenly fizzled out and the three headed dragon glowed lightly with a white light for a moment before splitting back into the smaller metallic white dragon, the purple and green wraith, and the strange white rock creature.

Growling loudly, Kaiba snarled "Fine! Blue Eyes, blast that magnet with White Lightning!"

The powerful dragon roared loudly and opened it's jaws, effectively releasing a torrent of white energy at the yellow monster.

With a light smirk, Yugi held up a hand towards his final face down card. It instantly rose up, with him saying "I activate Negate Attack! This trap does like it says, it negates your attack and ends your Battle Phase!"

The oncoming attack suddenly slammed into a reddish barrier and instantly fizzled out, leaving Kaiba growling.

"Fine!" Kaiba snarled. "I set a card and end my turn." (Yugi 8000, Seto 8000)

Picking up a new card, Yugi lightly chuckled and said "I sacrifice Beta for my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

The yellow magnet creature vanished in a flash of light and suddenly lightning struck the field without warning. From it came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. Its hands and feet had three claws, and on it's back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns that pointed to the left and right, with it's head mostly looking like a skull. The creature's eyes were aqua colored and seemingly held much rage within them. It let out a low growl, seemingly challenging the other monsters on the field.

"Your fiend may be powerful," Kaiba chuckled, "but it's no match for my Blue-Eyes!"

In a challenging voice, Yugi asked "Really? I guess a good thing I'm activating this spell, Rush Recklessly! This will boost my Summoned Skull's attack points by 700 till the end of the turn (2500 + 700 3200/1200)!"

The demonic creature glowed with dark energy and let out a feral growl while small bolts of electricity flowed out of it's body.

"NO!" Seto roared.

"I'm afraid no amount of screaming will save your dragon, Kaiba! Summoned Skull, destroy his dragon with Lightning Strike!" Yugi commanded.

Raising its arms, lightning began flowing out of the white bone creature into a large sphere of electricity above the field. The electricity sphere was instantly drawn towards the large dragon, which let out a loud roar of pain before exploding.

"I end my turn (3200 – 700 2500/1200)." (Yugi 8000, Seto 7800)

Kaiba quietly drew his next card, but chuckled at the sight of his new card. "Excellent. I sacrifice my two monsters to summon something I decided to add to my deck from watching all of Marie's duels! Here comes my Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

The green and purple wraith and the glowing white rock creature vanished instantly, making room for a roaring dark orange dragon with a massive set of wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around its face, and a strong tail.

Frowning at the summoned monster, Marie grumbled "Where could he get that from? It's a very rare card. I won mine by winning a regional tournament."

"Let's not forget that this is Kaiba my dear." Illidan input. "He can afford anything, and probably bought it off someone."

"I guess, but I hate that he can do that when most people have to earn their cards." she muttered.

On the field, Kaiba sneered at Yugi and roared "Tyrant Dragon, attack with TYRANT FLAME!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dark orange dragon released a stream of searing hot orange flames at the demonic creature. The blast melted a hole straight through the creature, which let out a thunderous wail of pain before shattering.

Smirking at the destruction, Kaiba smugly said "Unfortunately, Tyrant Dragon can only attack twice if you've got another monster on the field. Since that isn't the case here, I set one card face down and end my turn." (Yugi 7600, Seto 7800)

Drawing his next card, Yugi frowned and quietly said "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." (Yugi 7600, Seto 7800)

Quickly snapping off his next card, Kaiba showed it to Yugi. "I play the spell Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards!"

Snapping off two new cards, he smirked. "I summon Lord of Dragons (1200/1100)!"

A man wearing black dragon armor with a black cape appeared onto the field with a bit of a grunt.

"Thanks to my Lord of Dragons, all spell, trap, and monster effects cannot target my Dragon Type monsters, meaning you're out of luck if you thought you could stop them. Lord of Dragons, obliterate his face down monster with Dragon Master Blast!"

The mage shrieked and raised his hands to aim at the horizontal card image. He quickly let lose a torrent of black energy from his hands at the card image, which took the hit and was instantly shattered. From the shattered image, a small brown fur ball creature with white wings, green clawed hands and feet, and purple eyes appeared. The creature was instantly shattered by the blast, leaving only sparkly dust in it's wake.

Lightly smirking, Yugi said "My Winged Kuriboh (300/200) may seem weak, but when it's destroyed, all Battle Damage till the end of the turn is reduced to zero. That means Tyrant Dragon will be unable to touch my life points."

Kaiba growled lowly and grunted out "You're only delaying the inevitable, Yugi. I end my turn." (Yugi 7600, Seto 7800)

Quietly drawing, Yugi examined his card and glanced at the field. Deciding things would be best to defend himself, he placed the card into his left hand and picked a different card out and placed it horizontally onto his Duel Disk.

"I set this monster and end." (Yugi 7600, Seto 7800)

Aggressively drawing, Kaiba pointed at the face down monster and bellowed "Lord of Dragons, destroy it!"

The mage let out a low grunt and fired a blast of black energy at the horizontal card image. With the blast approaching, the card image glowed and revealed the face down monster to be a muscular man kneeling with incredibly long black hair, wearing a teal and purple shirt with no sleeves and orange pants. On the warrior's left arm was a large shield, which blocked the attack and reflected it back at Seto directly, who grunted out in pain.

"Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) seems to be a little tough for your monster to handle." Yugi smartly remarked.

Smirking, Kaiba replied "You do realize that your monster switches to attack mode now, right?"

Upon the accusation being made, the warrior stood up and shifted his shield out of the way.

"Tyrant Dragon, incinerate that useless monster with Tyrant Flame!"

The dark orange dragon roared in response and let lose a torrent of searing orange flames at the weak warrior. The warrior tried to raise its shield in an attempt to block, but it was a useless gesture. Within an instant, the warrior was burnt up and exploded, leaving Yugi wide open.

In a smug tone, Kaiba said "I don't understand why you played that ridiculous monster. At any rate, I end my turn." (Yugi 4800, Seto 6400)

Confidently drawing his next card, Yugi glanced at it and smiled. Placing it into his left hand, he picked one of the others from the hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon the Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)!"

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood, a staff, and three half spheres, with one on each shoulder, and one on his chest, materialized onto the field. Swinging his staff about into an offensive stance, the mage let out a small battle cry.

Shrugging, Kaiba smartly said "Sure, it can take down my Lord of Dragons, but it's no match for my Tyrant Dragon."

Returning fire, Yugi replied "Maybe he's not, but trust me, I will defeat it. For now, I play the spell known as Card of Sanctity, which allows us both to draw until we hold six cards."

Together, both Yugi and Seto began drawing five cards each. Upon placing all five cards into his hand, the white mage's left shoulder suddenly glowed to life at where the half sphere was.

"Don't forget, each time a spell is played, my Skilled White Magician gains a Spell Counter." Yugi explained. Picking a new card out of his hand, he said "Next I play the spell card known as Spell Absorption. Every time a spell card is activated, I gain five hundred life points."

Once more, a sphere on the mage's shoulder glowed to life, symbolizing he had gained another Spell Counter.

"Finally, I activate the spell Magical Blast, which will deal you two hundred points of direct damage for every Spellcaster Type monster on my field. I only have one, but that's more than enough!"

The white mage raised its staff and smirked at Kaiba. In a flash, a small blast of black energy went sailing across the field and struck Kaiba in the chest, causing him to take a sharp intake of breath due to the pain.

"Now my Skilled White Magician has three Spell Counters on him, allowing me to activate his special ability! By removing all the counters and sacrificing him, I can special summon from my deck your worst nightmare! Rise up my Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

The mage instantly vanished from the field and was replaced by a mighty warrior clad in violet full-body armor that was brandishing a large halberd sword. He hollered a war cry and took a dramatic pose, pointing his blade threateningly at the dark orange dragon.

Glaring at the monster with wide eyes, Kaiba lowly cursed. "Damn it… Not that monster!"

"As I'm sure you remember, Buster Blader gains five hundred attack points for every Dragon Type monster on your field and in your Graveyard. You currently have one on your field, and one in the Graveyard, meaning my Buster Blader gains 1000 attack points (2600 + 1000 3600/2300), meaning he is now much stronger than the Tyrant Dragon!" Yugi declared.

"NO!" Kaiba roared with anger seething from his eyes.

Pointing at the large orange dragon, Yugi called out "Buster Blader, attack Tyrant Dragon with Dragon Slayer Slash!"

The purple knight nodded his head and took off forward the large dark orange dragon, who tried to breathe fire at its attacker. The knight only dodged and leapt high into the air to dodge the flames. Coming down, the warrior landed a slash that sliced the dragon completely in two, making it howl loudly before exploding.

"You may have more life points than me Kaiba, but I'd like to see you defeat my Buster Blader! I end for now." Yugi declared. (Yugi 5300, Seto 5700)

The two duelists locked eyes, each showing fierceness that they had always reserved for one another alone. Watching the intensity of the duel, the crowd burst into cheers once more.

--

Far away, through time and space, a figure sat in a comfortable chair at a round table with six other humanoid figures. On the table was a crystal ball, showing them the duel between Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba. In one hand the figure held a glass of wine, while the other held his chin.

"My, my, it seems like both of them are much more powerful than before." the figure mused to the others.

One of the other figures hissed in a slow, raspy voice "Yugi Moto, Illidan Stormrage, and Seto Kaiba are the primary threat to our plans. However, I must also raise the issue of Jaden Yuki."

The figure, who was taking a drink of his cup of wine, paused and looked at the speaker. In an annoyed tone, the figure said "He is only a child."

"Yes, but he has proven himself to be powerful by defeating the one known as Legato Bluesummers. This so called child has power comprehensible to Illidan Stormrage's. He is dangerous and needs to be dealt with accordingly." the other figure advised.

The others around the table nodded in agreement, making the first one drinking wine take another sip and finally say "Relax. We know he is nothing compared to us. Let us enjoy this duel, and watch how these fools duel, for soon enough, we shall take all of their Duel Energy!"

--

Kaiba gave a dry chuckle upon drawing his next card. "Well, Yugi, I'm about to show you that I don't only rely on dragons alone!"

Raising an eyebrow, Yugi asked "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Wait and watch." Kaiba replied with a smirk. "In the meantime, I activate the spell Mystical Space Typhoon, destroying your Spell Absorption!"

Flying across the field quickly was a small twister, which ripped through the spell card on Yugi's side easily.

Smirking, Kaiba declared "I summon X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!"

A blue and yellow robotic creature, that was legless and hovered on a spiked ball, and had twin cannons extending out of its shoulders materialized. The robots hands were metal clawed, making it seemingly more dangerous.

Realizing what Kaiba was up to, Yugi grimaced. Smirking at the grimace, Kaiba called out "I activate this spell, Ties of the Brethren! By paying 1000 life points, I can special summon two level four or lower monsters from my deck. Of course, they must be in defense mode and have the same attribute, but that isn't so hard. My choices, obviously, are Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) and Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash were two more machine creatures. The first was a red mechanical dragon with wings for hands and clawed feet. The dragon let out a small mechanical roar while setting down into a defensive position. Up next was a blue and yellow tank like creature with treads.

Seeing Yugi's irritable look, Seto smugly said "Sorry, Yugi, things are about to get worse for you. I remove from play all three in order to fuse them together to create the one and only XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

All three machine creatures instantly took to the air with their afterburners flaring bright red. The red dragon's wings suddenly broke away and vanished while the spiked ball on the blue and yellow robot began to spin rapidly. The two connected, sending out a small flash of electricity. Next, the two combined creatures slammed onto the top of the blue and yellow tank, hooking all three together. Steam gushed forth from the places where the three machines combined as the end result turned out to be a horrible machine of war with electricity now coursing wildly all over it's mechanical body.

The crowd exploded into cheers when the mighty machine of war slammed back onto the field, shaking the dueling ring a bit.

"I'm not nearly through with you yet Yugi, not by a long shot! Next, I activate the spell Magical Stone Excavation, forcing me to discard two cards from my hand to bring back a single spell card."

Placing two cards into his Graveyard Slot, Kaiba watched while both were sucked into the slot. Without hesitation, he said "My choice is Ties of the Brethren."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot slowly pushed the card back out to his awaiting hand, which he took it and showed it, instantly saying "I play it once again, allowing me to pay another grand to summon my V -Tiger Jet (1600/1800) and W-Wing Catapult (1300/1500)!"

Searching his deck, Kaiba grabbed the two monster cards and slapped them onto his Duel Disk horizontally. Materializing onto the field was a yellow tiger shaped machine with wings painted green and jets on its underside. Beside of it, a blue winged machine, looking somewhat like a plane, appeared onto the field.

Yugi's eyes shot wide open at seeing this. In an exasperated voice, he questioned "V and W? I thought you only had X, Y, and Z in your deck…"

"I bet you wish I only had X, Y, and Z, but I have all five now!" Kaiba declared. "Now merge together V-Tiger Jet and W-Wing Catapult to summon VW-Tiger Catapult (2000/2100)!"

Both machines engines flared to life, with each flying into the air. Slowly, the doors on the top of the blue plane like machine opened and split the machined own the middle. Flying above the blue creature, the yellow and green tiger lowered till the two connected up together. The newly created machine let out a small mechanical roar from the tiger's mouth.

Pointing at his two machines, Kaiba smugly said "You're not out of the woods just yet Yugi, because why settle for two weaker machines when I can create a better one? I merge both VW-Tiger Catapult and XYZ-Dragon Cannon together to form my ultimate war machine! Combine my creatures to create my VWXYZ -Dragon Catapult Cannon (3000/2800)!"

The engines on both creatures screamed to life, sending both soaring into the air. One by one, the machine monsters broke apart into their five separate pieces and began forming a new creature. Slowly, the form of a large robot on two legs made from the blue and yellow tank appeared, followed by a mid-section formed by the red dragon. Next, on the chest of the creature, the large blue platform had docked onto the blue and yellow robot's chest. The arms were the tracks of the blue and yellow tank creature, and on the large machine creature's back were the red wings of the red dragon. Finally, the head of the massive monster was created by the mechanical tiger. Landing on the ground, the machine monster let out a horrifying moan and aimed both cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest at Yugi.

"Yugi's in trouble now…" Marie muttered as the remainder of the crowd held its breath.

Squeezing her hand gently, Illidan softly said "Have faith in him love. He can do this, I know it."

"I have faith, but I'm just pointing out he has some tough opposition to overcome in order to beat Kaiba." she reiterated.

Nodding in reply, Illidan returned his own gaze to the field. He couldn't help but worry about his friend, but knew not to let things like this bother him. "_He can do this, I know it._"

Back on the field, Yugi stared on with no fear on his face, but inside, he felt the tension of the impending monster. "Alright, you formed a powerful monster Kaiba, but it's still weaker than my Buster Blader. I hope you don't plan on attacking with it."

"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi, you seem to be forgetting my Dragon Catapult Cannon's effect." Kaiba smugly pointed out. "Once per a turn, I can remove a card from play on your field. I think I'll start with your Buster Blader."

Gulping lightly, Yugi muttered "Uh oh."

"Go, blow away his Buster Blader with Hyper Destruction!" Kaiba commanded.

The gigantic robot aimed it's twin cannon barrels straight at the purple warrior. Both barrels began glowing at the tips, each with blue light escaping. In an earth shattering blast, the twin barrels fired twin blasts at the purple warrior, who could only cry out in pain before exploding.

Glaring at Kaiba, Yugi lowly growled and knew what was coming. Smirking at that fact, Kaiba bellowed "Attack Yugi directly with Fission Cannon!"

Once again, the war machine adjusted it's barrels, this time targeting Yugi himself with them. Golden energy began to peek at the tips of the barrels till finally, without warning, twin blasts fired straight out of them and struck Yugi, creating a large explosion. He instantly fell to his one knee, shaking lightly from the tremendous force of the explosion.

"Do you feel fear now, Yugi?" Kaiba mocked with a sneer. "All those times you've beaten me have led up to this. How does it feel knowing you'll be the one to lose?"

Yugi didn't answer, prompting Kaiba to continue. "Once I defeat you, I'll regain my pride and title from Illidan as well! I set one card face down, switch Lord of Dragons into defense, and end my turn." (Yugi 2800, Seto 3700)

Drawing silently, Yugi examined the card. Glancing up at the crowd, he knew they were awaiting his move eagerly, seemingly pressuring him to continue. Smirking inwardly, he remembered how at one time crowds had worried him, but now that mattered little to him at all. He had learned long ago from Yami that saving the world was far worse than any crowd could ever be.

Placing the card within his left hand, he picked two others and gently placed one horizontally onto his Duel Disk, then placed the other into his Spell/Trap Slot. Quietly, he said "I set a monster and add a card face down. Next, I play the spell Book of Taiyou, allowing me to flip my face down monster up. Reveal yourself Magician of Faith (300/400)!"

The horizontal card image instantly turned vertical and then rose up, revealing the monster image. Materializing onto the field was a young female mage with long pink hair held back in a pony tail appeared. She wore purple and pink robes with a yellow cord belt. In her left hands was a long golden staff with a crescent moon at the top of the staff.

"Thanks to her effect, I get to transfer a spell from my Graveyard to my hand, so I pick my Card of Sanctity."

Holding his hand over the Graveyard Slot, Yugi patiently waited for the card to slide out. Once it did, he placed it into his left hand and showed the last card he had to Kaiba. "I activate the spell Book of Moon, allowing me to flip my mage back into face down defense."

The female mage's image instantly vanished and a horizontal card image replaced her. With a small smirk, Yugi said "At that, I end my turn." (Yugi 2800, Seto 3700)

"How pathetic." Kaiba smugly said while drawing a new card. "I expected better from you, Yugi. Too bad, you're finished. I play my monster's effect and remove from play your monster with Hyper Destruction!"

Once again, the huge robot pointed its cannon barrels towards the horizontal card image and fired twin blue blasts at it. The card instantly vanished from the field in a thunderous explosion, leaving Yugi alone with a face down card.

"It's been a pleasure as always Yugi, but this game is over! VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack directly and win me this duel!"

Pointing both barrels at Yugi, the large robot fired twin golden blasts at him, each on target to score a hit on him.

Calling out, Yugi said "Not happening Kaiba, because I play my trap! Go Waboku! This trap now reduces all Battle Damage to zero, meaning you can't beat me this turn!

Appearing before Yugi were three female mages in blue robes. The three slowly began chanting and a barrier appeared before them. When the blasts slammed into the barrier, the mages continued chanting, seemingly unaffected by it. The blast soon fizzled out and vanished from the field along with the three blue robed mages.

"You're pushing your luck. I end." Kaiba grunted out. (Yugi 2800, Kaiba 3700)

Letting out a sigh of relief, Marie lowly mumbled "Yugi has to do something and soon if he wants to win."

"I know my love, but have faith in him." Illidan replied. Smiling, he added "After all, Kaiba's yet to beat him in a duel fairly, and I have a feeling Yugi's not about to let himself lose this one either. He has true strength, something Kaiba has never understood."

"Don't worry so much about Yugi." Joey cut in with a smile turned towards Marie. "He wouldn't let that snotty rich boy beat him in a million years. Just wait, he's just getting warmed up!"

"I hope so…" Marie mumbled in reply.


	16. Chapter 16: Rivals Clash, Pt 2

**Hello everyone! Well, this past weekend was not too bad. Saturday, I went out and helped my dad put up a building. He had bought two, and we had put one up earlier this winter/spring (can't remember when it was, lol. it was like February or March), so this one went up a little easier. With the help of my step brother and step mom, we had it up in four hours, all but the doors that is. I think him and my step brother got them on after I left. Anyways, Saturday evening was interesting with my mate. She was a bit grouchy with me, which I guess I was annoying her a little bit, but no more than usual, lol. But needless to say, it was a shopping trip for groceries that I'd like to somewhat forget, lol. Sunday, I saw my grandparents, who were doing well. I sat and talked with my grandpa for a while, which was fun. I enjoy spending time with him, but some of the things he said made me really wish I had more time to spend with him. I don't know if it's guilt or what… In a lot of ways, I miss how he once was. I think all of my family does, but we just have to hope and pray he does get somewhat better. It's just up to him to see if he wants to or not, but if not, I'm just thankful he's still alive, and that's more than enough for me in the end. But my heart goes out to him so much. He wishes for my grandmother to have a long life if he dies. I consoled him though, and told him that he'd live a long time also, and maybe one day me and my mate will bring him some great grand children. Of course, that's some time away, but you never know, lol. Ok, enough stuff that makes me feel sad. At any rate, things went good with me and him, and my grandmother got to do her shopping. Other than that, nothing happened really.**

**Writing wise, I'm thinking on some stuff for this story, and still working diligently on **_**Another**_**. Both are so time consuming, but it's all good. I love to write still, so I'm not going to complain about writing, lol.**

**Last time, Yugi and Kaiba's duel began, with the famous rivals battling it out at full power. Neither seemed to take a clear cut advantage, but now Yugi faces off with the infamously powerful VWXYZ – Dragon Cannon Catapult, which has rendered Yugi's defenses helpless. Can the King of Games rebound and win this duel, or has his time ended as King of Games and Kaiba's time just begun?**

**Alright, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, me and ardee (more ardee than me, lol) decided to put this duel out and let everyone see the rivals fight it out. I normally like to keep the duels strictly close to my characters, but it's all good, and I think this duel should be wrote out, which ardee did, lol. Yes, Kaiba expanded his arsenal to incorporate the V and W monsters with his XYZ ones. True, he could have used some of the Rise of the Dragon Lords structure deck monsters, but eh, it didn't happen, lol. Besides, I'm unsure if that deck was out when this duel was written… I'd have to think about it, lol. It probably was, but oh well. We both really liked your idea, and I'll probably talk to you about it again today, so look for a PM in the near future. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Thanks, and yes, more Chazz cards. Lol, Kaiba made those cards famous before Chazz, with exception of V and W. So true, Chazz copied Kaiba, so maybe Kaiba could sue for copyright infringement? Lol, never know. Never know, maybe Kaiba will Kaiba-Kick Yugi down once and for all. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, a triple fusion, with two subs. I think that's a legal move, but I'm unsure myself. I have to look that one up. I'm just not too sure on it. Yep, De-Fusion has reared it's ugly head again, but to stop an attack for once, lol. I believe it can do subs, from what I remember, but again, I'm not so up on the rules as I once was. True, the anime has done far worse things than I have. Yes, Legato was originally from Trigun. I used him in the last story, **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**, as the villain, along with Zell, who had Legato inhabiting his body. In the end, Legato gave Zell the boot from his body, who took refuge in Zane, only to have Marie throw him out, lol. But yes, Legato was awesome. Kind of creepy, but cool also, lol. Maybe it would have been better splitting the VWXYZ – Dragon Catapult Cannon into VW and XYZ, but it has the better of the abilities really. I mean, it can remove a monster without discarding, plus switch a monster's mode when it attacks. Those are pretty hard effects to compete with when you have to discard cards for the other two forms. Lol, yes, very true, he's Seto Kaiba, so deal with it. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: So far, it is an intense duel, and I'm sure it only gets far more intense. True, everyone is pessimistic, but that's got to happen, lol. Glad you liked the chapter though. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you each for them. I appreciated them, and liked the feedback. I always enjoy reading them to see what people thought. It's so very helpful in critiquing my style of writing. Lol, my mate commented recently that I've developed so much since **_**ToP**_**, and I kind of hope I have. Still, I have so much to learn, and reading these reviews helps me in that process, so thank you all once more.**

**That's it for me today, so I hope you all like this chapter. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 16**

Picking up his next card, Yugi chuckled and calmly said "I place a card face down, and activate Card of Sanctity! You know the drill Kaiba, we each draw till we each hold six cards in our hands."

Grunting, Seto began picking up five cards while Yugi grabbed six new ones. Examining them, he smirked and said "Say good bye to that scrapheap this turn. I play the spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, but toss out two once I'm done."

Snapping off three new cards, Yugi glanced at them and finally picked two from his hand and placed them into his Graveyard Slot, which sucked them in momentarily later. Pointing at his face down card, he called out "I reveal the spell Monster Reborn, allowing me to return to me my Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Rising up onto the field was a mage in purple robes and armor with a green staff in his hands. His hair was purple and somewhat hidden by the cone shaped mage's hat that he wore, and his eyes were lilac colored.

A bit shocked, Kaiba growled out "But I never destroyed that card! How did it get to your Graveyard!?"

"You should know Kaiba." Yugi wistfully replied. "I just played Graceful Charity, and had to discard two cards. That should have been a dead giveaway."

Remembering, Kaiba grumbled lowly to himself. Glaring at Yugi still, he shot back "That mage is too weak anyways to destroy my VWXYZ-Dragon Catapult Cannon anyways, so why bother with him!?"

"I have a very good reason. A good magician always has a trick up his sleeve." Yugi wryly said. Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, he said "I activate the spell Thousand Knives! While Dark Magician is on the field, this card allows me to destroy one monster in play. You should know which I pick, so say farewell!"

Materializing onto the field around the purple robed mage were thousands of daggers that were all glowing with white light. Pointing his staff at the machine monster, the mage effectively sent the daggers shooting across the field. All of the daggers dug into the machine monster, making it let out a mechanical howl before exploding into millions of pixels.

Growling at the loss of his monster, Kaiba snarled "I won't lose that easily Yugi! Do you hear me!"

"I hear you loud and clear, Kaiba, which is why I'm playing the spell Fissure. This spell destroys the weakest monster on the field, so your Lord of Dragons is gone!"

Rising up out of the ground was a clawed hand. It grabbed hold of the weaker dragon robed mage, who screamed out in pain before being dragged below the ground.

Pointing at Kaiba, Yugi declared "Dark Magician, direct attack with Dark Magic Attack!"

Twirling his scepter, the purple robed mage let out a battle cry and pointed his staff at the CEO. The mage quickly released a green sphere of energy straight at his master's opponent, who grunted and braced himself for the oncoming blast. In a huge explosion, the blast scored a hit, pushing Kaiba backwards a bit and to one knee.

With a sly smile, Yugi calmly said "I end my turn." (Yugi 3800, Seto 1200)

Standing back up, Kaiba returned to his original position and quietly drew his card. After a moment, he began chuckling and said "Whenever the Dark Magician rises, only one card in my deck has the right to see that it falls."

Noting Yugi's grimace, Kaiba smirked and said "I first activate my spell, Shrink, and I target Dark Magician. This spell cuts his attack points in half (2500 / 2 1250/2100)."

Glowing with a red glow, the purple robed mage winced in pain while his strength was cut in half.

"Next up, I activate the spell Heavy Storm, destroying all our spell and trap cards."

A large burst of wind suddenly gusted across the field and blew away each and every face down and face up card the two had.

"Now I activate the spell Advanced Ritual Art! This allows me to summon a Ritual Type monster in my hand even if I don't have the required ritual spell card. Instead of sacrificing monsters from my hand, I'm required to sacrifice Normal Type monsters from my deck that equal out the number to summon the Ritual Type monster! I send the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my Graveyard in order to summon my Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!"

Watching Kaiba remove the monster from his deck and place it into his Graveyard Slot, Yugi couldn't help but ponder over the move. "_Since when does Kaiba get rid of his Blue-Eyes to summon a monster!?_"

There was an ethereal shriek, and a white form appeared onto the field. The form took the shape of a smaller white dragon with golden eyes. On it's back was a demonic rider dressed in white armor. He carried a long blade that reflected the light from the stage lights of the arena.

Grabbing another card from his left hand, Kaiba placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "Now I play Monster Reborn to bring back the Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) I just sent to my Graveyard! Rise my great beast!"

A large, metallic looking white dragon, similar to the one that was on the field early on in the duel, materialized onto the field with a mighty roar while spreading out it's massive wings. Glaring at Yugi, it bared it's teeth and let out another mighty roar.

"Paladin of White Dragon, destroy that pitiful mage with Ionic Spear Burst!"

Flying higher into the air, the dragon and it's rider reached a high point and finally came rushing downwards towards the purple robed mage. The dragon roared lightly while the warrior plunged his lance into the mage's chest, making the mage scream out in pain before shattering.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, direct attack with White Lightning!"

Roaring loudly, the white metallic dragon shot a beam of pure white energy straight at Yugi, who crossed his arms and prepared for the blast. With tremendous force, the beam struck him, making him scream out in pain and fall to one knee panting heavily.

Smirking at Yugi's painful expression on his face, Kaiba smugly mocked "It hurts, doesn't it Yugi? Well, the pain will soon disappear once I bring out your worst nightmare. I activate Paladin's effect, sacrificing him in order to bring out my final Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Vanishing in a flash of light, the warrior and the dragon disappeared. In their place, another large white, metallic looking dragon materialized and let out a massive roar.

"I set a card and end my turn." (Yugi 150, Seto 1200)

Still panting heavily and on one knee, Yugi attempted to stand up, only to fall back down to his one knee. Clenching his right fist, he tried again, this time finding success in standing back up. Glaring at the twin white dragons, he looked at his deck and then back up at Kaiba. After a moment, his breathing calmed and he closed his eyes. Calming himself, he took a deep breath and then let out. Opening his violet eyes, he drew and smirked.

"Those dragons are powerful indeed, but I can beat them. First, I play the spell Silent Doom, allowing me to bring back from my Graveyard to the field in defense my Beta the Magnet Warrior (1700/1600)!"

The yellow magnet creature that had been banished early in the duel reappeared onto the field in a kneeling stance.

"Next, I place a face down card and then activate the spell Emergency Provisions! I send my face down card to my Graveyard with Emergency Provision's effect, which happens to be Diffusion Wave-Motion, and gain 1000 life points."

Vanishing from the field was the face down card, which revealed itself while turning into dust and flowing into Yugi's Duel Disk, making his life point counter jump upwards.

Shrugging at the move, Kaiba smartly mocked "Big deal, you raised your life points. It won't help you still."

"You'll change your tune soon enough." Yugi shot back. "I play a card you should be familiar with, my Ties of the Brethren! By paying a 1000 life points, I can special summon two level four or lower monsters from my deck to the field, so long as they're the same attribute."

Pulling his deck out, Yugi grabbed two cards from it and slapped both onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I pick these two, my Alpha (1400/1700) and Gamma the Magnet Warriors (1500/1800)"

Materializing onto the field in kneeling positions were two magnet creatures. The first was a dull grey one with a sword and shield, with a magnet on it's shield. The other was a pink magnet creature with wings with it's arms crossed.

Eyes widening, Kaiba growled out "NO!"

"Yes!" Yugi fired back. "I sacrifice all three of my Magnet Warriors to special summon one of my most powerful creatures. Arise my Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on each side of it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took an offensive stance.

Glaring at the new creature, Kaiba cursed softly. "That thing is stronger than my Blue-Eyes!"

"That's right Kaiba, meaning you're about to lose one of them. Go Valkyrion, cleave up one of his Blue-Eyes with Magna Slash!" Yugi commanded.

Flying across the field, the large magnet creature drew back it's sword. Reaching the white dragon, the warrior slashed his sword across it's chest, cleaving the dragon in half with a single swing. The dragon instantly exploded into millions of pieces, leaving Kaiba covering his face from the smoke.

Lowly chuckling, Kaiba said "Very impressive, Yugi. Once again our life points are nearly even."

Nodding in reply, Yugi replied "That's right, and soon yours will be zero."

"I won't lose this battle Yugi." Kaiba calmly said. Glaring at him, he bellowed "I won't lose to you again! My deck is perfect and will take you down!"

"There is no such thing as perfection." Yugi smartly remarked. "But feel free to try and prove me wrong. I end my turn." (Yugi 150, Seto 700)

Drawing a new card, Seto slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk and said "I set this monster and then I'll set a face down card. Finally, I switch my Blue-Eyes to defense in order to end. Your go." (Yugi 1150, Seto 700)

Picking up his next card, Yugi placed it onto his Duel Disk, calmly saying "I summon my Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200)."

A brown lion like creature with a black mane, a horn on his forehead, glowing yellow eyes and sharp clawed hands and feet appeared onto the field.

Pointing at the white dragon, Yugi declared "Valkyrion, destroy his last Blue-Eyes!"

Rushing across the field, the magnet warrior made quick work of the remaining white dragon, who howled in pain when slashed in half. Kaiba only held his hand over his face to shield himself from the explosion that ensued from the dragon's untimely end.

"Gazelle, destroy his face down monster!"

Racing forward, the lion like creature leapt into the air and came slamming down on top of the face down card image. The image shattered, revealing a machine like pot with a blue face with a bulging eye. A beam of light instantly shot from the pot to the lion creature, shattering it. Another beam was then fired at the magnet creature, making it moan before exploding. The pot itself then exploded.

Manically laughing, Kaiba shouted "Thanks for destroying my Cyber Jar (900/900)! Since he was just destroyed, all monsters were blown away with him. Next, we each pick up five cards and show them to one another. If there are any level four or lower monsters in the pile, we can special summon them to the field in attack mode or set them in defense."

Nodding, Yugi proceeded to pick up five cards from his deck, which Kaiba did the same also. Showing the five cards to one another, each picked out the level four monsters.

"I'm going to set my Silent Magician (1000/1000) and Skilled White Magician (1700/1900) in defense each." Yugi declared.

Selecting two monsters from his own five cards, Seto slapped both onto his Duel Disk, saying "I'll summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) and Kaiser Seahorse (1700/1650) in attack mode!"

An olive skinned ogre wielding an axe like spear in black leather first appeared onto the field. Next to him materialized a strange dark blue and purple sea monster like creature, wielding a golden trident and shield.

"It's still your move Yugi, so finish up so I can pummel you." Kaiba snidely remarked.

Nodding lightly, Yugi calmly said "I activate the spell Burial from a Different Dimension, allowing me to take up to three monsters in my removed from play pile and put them into my Graveyard. I think I'll move my Buster Blader and Magician of Faith both and put them into my Grave."

Opening the extra slot on his Duel Disk, Yugi picked up both cards and slid them into the Graveyard Slot, which sucked them in slowly one by one. "Next, I play a spell known as Pot of Avarice. With this, I can take five monsters from my Graveyard and transfer them to my deck. I can then shuffle and draw two cards. My choices are Dark Magician, Buster Blader, Winged Kuriboh, Summoned Skull and Magician of Faith."

Glowing to life, the slot slowly pushed the five cards out. Once all five were collected, Yugi picked them up and shuffled them into his deck. Finishing up, he snapped off two new cards and examined them momentarily.

"I set a card face down and I end my move." (Yugi 150, Seto 700)

Slowly drawing, Kaiba examined his card and smirked. "Vorse Raider, tear that left hand face down monster apart!"

Rushing forward at a quick pace, the ogre slammed his spear through the face down card image, shattering it instantly. From the image appeared a weaker young mage in white robes with a blue bodysuit underneath. His face had a horrified look on it before he exploded into millions of pixels.

"Since both my monsters are too weak to break the defense of your Skilled White Magician, I set one card and end my turn." (Yugi 150, Seto 700)

Picking up a new card, Yugi grinned at it and called out "I flip summon my face down Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)."

Materializing onto the field like the mage that was on the field earlier was a white robed mage.

"Next, I'm equipping him with the spell Book of Secret Arts! This boosts his strength by 300 points (1700 + 300 2000/1900 + 300 2200)!"

An ancient tome appeared before the white mage, who took it in his hands and read through it quickly. Finishing up, his body glowed with white energy while his strength increased. On the mage's right shoulder, the half sphere glowed to life.

"Not bad." Kaiba mused.

"Destroy his Kaiser Seahorse now my Skilled White Magician!" Yugi commanded.

Twirling his scepter in front of his body, the white robed mage finally stopped his staff that with it pointed at the blue and purple sea monster creature. A blast of white magical energy instantly went flying across the field and slammed into the creature, who let out a loud cry before finally shattering into pieces.

"I end my turn." (Yugi 150, Seto 500)

Quietly drawing, Kaiba grunted with irritation. "I switch Vorse Raider to defense mode and set a monster. That's it." (Yugi 150, Seto 500)

Drawing his next card, Yugi examined it and said "It's time for things to really heat up! I activate the spell Dark Magic Curtain! By paying half of my remaining life points, I can special summon my Dark Magician (2500/2100) from my deck!"

Appearing onto the field was a platform with a large red curtain, the top half of a skeleton with a red collar, and a pentagram design etched circle. Flying out of the curtains instantly was the familiar purple robed mage with lilac colored eyes. Landing onto the field, he smirked at Seto, seemingly challenging him. Beside the purple robed mage, the white robed mage's left shoulder glowed to life.

"Next, I play the spell Emblem of Dragon Destroyer, allowing me to transfer my Buster Blader from my deck to my hand."

While sifting through his deck for the monster card, the white mage's button on his chest glowed to life. All three now glowed brightly, making the mage softly smirk.

Finishing up with finding his monster, Yugi shuffled his deck and placed it back within it's slot. "With the activation of my last spell card, my Skilled White Magician now has three Spell Counters. I remove all three in order to sacrifice him to summon my Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

Vanishing in a flash, the white mage left the field, making room for the familiar purple armored warrior once more. With a small battle cry, the warrior struck a pose with his sword drawn.

"As I'm sure you remember, he gains 500 attack points for every Dragon Type monster on your field and in your Graveyard. Since there are none of the field, let's count up the ones in your Graveyard, shall we?"

Kaiba frowned heavily as suddenly his Duel Disk's Graveyard Slot shot images of each and every Dragon Type monster.

"I count three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, a Paladin of White Dragon, and also Tyrant Dragon. That means you have five, which means Buster Blader gains a grand total of 2500 extra attack points (2600 + 2500 5100/2300)!"

Staring with wide eyes at the purple creature that glowed to life with more power, Kaiba barely managed to stifle a loud growl in the back of his throat.

Pointing at the ogre creature, Yugi declared "Buster Blader, destroy his Vorse Raider with Dragon Slayer's Slash!"

Letting out a battle cry, the purple warrior rushed across the field at nearly blinding speed. Arriving at his destination, the purple warrior made a simple slash through the air, decapitating the weaker ogre, which exploded almost immediately.

"Dark Magician, destroy his face down monster was Dark Magic Attack!"

Raising his staff, the mage fired out a sphere of green magical energy at the card image, which shattered quickly, revealing a weak black dragon that shrieked loudly before vanishing from the field.

"So much for my Pitch Dark Dragon (900/600)." Kaiba muttered.

Shrugging, Yugi simply said "I set a card and end my turn." (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Grabbing a new card, Kaiba smirked at it and slapped it instantly to his Duel Disk. "It's time I took back control of this duel, and what better a way than with my Kaibaman (200/700)!"

A human looking monster slowly began materializing onto the field. His attire consisted of black leather pants, a white trench coat, a long black sleeved shirt that ran down to his black spiked tipped gloves, a red vest, long butt length red hair that flowed freely behind him, and a white dragon shaped helmet that covering his head. The resemblance the monster bore of Kaiba was the most shocking thing of all though.

Those in the crowd who did not like Kaiba immediately burst out loud laughing. Even his own fans were forced to stifle their giggles. Kaiba glared at Yugi, who was having a hard time biting back laughter.

"Is there a problem?" he asked icily.

"No… No, none at all Kaiba." Yugi replied in a muffled voice.

Nodding, Kaiba smirked and said "There had better not be, because things are about to get worse for you. I play the spell Monster Reincarnation, forcing me to discard a card and return one monster from my Graveyard to my hand. I toss out my Crush Card Virus card, allowing me to transfer my Blue-Eyes White Dragon back to my hand!"

All the laughing in the audience came to a stop immediately while Seto placed the card into his Graveyard Slot. The card was sucked in and soon shot the monster card back out. Smirking, he slapped it to his Duel Disk, declaring "I activate Kaibaman's special ability and sacrifice him to special summon Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

The man with long red hair vanished instantly and was replaced by one of the large white metallic looking dragons, which roared loudly.

Laughing manically, Kaiba pointed an angry finger at the purple mage, yelling "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, eliminate Yugi and his Dark Magician from this duel with your White Lightning!"

The white dragon roared loudly as it stretched out it's massive wings. In one massive beat of it's wings, the dragon was airborne and glared down at the purple armored mage. Slowly, the dragon's jaws opened, revealing white energy licking the tips of it's lips. With an earth shattering shot, it released the stream of lightning straight at the purple robed mage, who stared on in shock.

At the last second, Yugi reacted and called out "I play the trap Spellbinding Circle, which stops your attack and immobilizes your dragon!"

Forming before the purple robed mage instantly was a green circle with a strange golden symbol forming on the top, left, right, and bottom formed, with a white question mark like symbol in the center. The white blast of energy slammed into the circle, but was unable to go through it. Quickly, the circle began pushing the blast backwards towards the white dragon, which watched in shock. The circle soon encircled it, making it roar wildly while it struggled for it's freedom. Unable to free itself, the dragon fell back down to the field and growled out with irritation and resolve.

Gnashing his teeth together at this move, Kaiba snarled "I won't stand by and allow that to last very long! I thought I'd end the duel by using my dragon, but since you won't allow it, I'll beat you with all the power at my disposal! I activate the spell Dragon's Mirror! This acts like Polymerization, but for Dragon Type monsters. I may now remove monsters from play on either my field or Graveyard in order to form a Dragon Type Fusion monster. I remove all three of my Blue-Eyes White Dragons from play, to form my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Two cards slid out of Kaiba's Graveyard Slot slowly, which he picked up, along with the third on his Duel Disk. On the field, two more white metallic dragons materialized on the field and let out a loud roar each. The three dragons suddenly began swirling together, melding their images into a blinding white light. From the light, the large three headed white dragon from early in the duel appeared and let out a terrifying roar from each head, making the entire arena shake from their power.

The entire crowd gasped in shock at the behemoth of a dragon that had appeared. Many were talking, saying Seto would win now, but many of Yugi's loyal fans continued to cheer for their hero.

On the field, Kaiba began laughing manically. Pointing an accusing finger at Yugi, he declared "Without those extra dragons in my Graveyard, your Buster Blader loses a few of his points (5100 – 1500 3600/2300)."

The purple armored warrior's body instantly glowed with a white light while his strength began to leave him, leaving him crying out a bit in disappointment.

"It's over for you, Yugi! Your reign as King of Games is as good as over!" Kaiba yelled with maniacal laughter. "Just admit it, you're finished! Take your turn, but it'll end soon enough!" (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Staring at the field, Joey grumbled lowly "Damn that Kaiba, he always manages to push Yugi into a corner like that. It's so not fair he has monsters with over 3000 attack points."

Chuckling at Joey, Illidan calmly said "True, but Yugi isn't done quite yet. Don't forget, Yugi still has his Buster Blader and Dark Magician still out."

"Yeah, but neither are strong enough to take that dragon out." Marie informed.

Nodding, Mai added "Kaiba has seemingly thought of every possible angle. He's not letting Yugi win this one."

"I wouldn't count Yugi out yet." Illidan countered. "He has a lot of fight left in him, and he won't let Seto get the better of him just yet."

"Yeah, but can he beat these overwhelming odds?" Marie asked.

Smiling, Joey boastfully replied "Yugi has had the deck stacked against him before, and if there is anyone I believe can beat Kaiba, it's Yugi."

The group looked back down to the field, each hoping against all hope that their friend on the field could fight his way back.

On the field, Yugi drew his next card and examined it momentarily. Looking up at the three headed dragon across the field, he frowned. "_With only Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon on Kaiba's field, and Tyrant Dragon in his Graveyard, my Buster Blader can only gain 1000 extra attack points. I have Polymerization in my hand, but even my Dark Paladin can't beat that thing with it's bonus. At most, it would have 3900 points._"

Calmly, he took the other card in his hand and showed it to Kaiba, saying "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up two more cards."

Drawing his two cards, Yugi frowned once more. "_These two cards aren't very helpful either, since they're just Black Luster Soldier and The Light – Hex – Sealed Fusion... Wait, that's it!_"

Smiling great big, Yugi lightly chuckled. Frowning at this, Kaiba teasingly asked "Are you so afraid now Yugi that you've resorted to laughing? Have you finally lost your nerve?"

"No, it's not that." Yugi chuckled. "It's the cards in my hand. They're going to be your undoing, but I'm just surprised I have this combo."

"You lie." Kaiba snapped.

Smirking, Yugi turned the three cards towards Kaiba, saying "Witness the truth! I play Polymerization, allowing me to fuse my Black Luster Soldier (3000/2500) and The Light – Hex – Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to form a monster you're quite familiar with. After all, only you and I have ever formed this one together!"

Confused, Kaiba thought for a moment till suddenly his eyes widened with alarm. "NO, YOU CAN'T!" he exclaimed.

"I can! Rise up my Dragon Master Knight (5000/5000)!"

Materializing onto the field was a warrior in black full body armor with a bronzed sword and powerful shield. The skin on his face was light green and was the only skin revealed from his armor. Beside of him, a rock like monster with a single arm appeared that had a glow to it.

The two suddenly swirled together, creating a blinding light. From the light after a moment appeared the massive three headed dragon that was on the other side of the field, except this time it had a rider on it's back, which was the warrior in black armor. The three heads let out a massive roar, making the very arena shutter. On it's back, the warrior let out a battle cry, making all marvel at the creature.

"I've never heard of that monster." Zane stated with a confused look on his face.

Smiling, Illidan replied "It's only been summoned a few times, so it's no wonder you've not heard of it. After all, it's a fusion of the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Black Luster Soldier, which are two rare cards. Kaiba owns the only Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon card, and from what I've heard, Yugi is one of a select few owners of the Black Luster Soldier. Unlike my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, this one is a ritual monster and is a bit harder to summon, and has no effects. Still, for Yugi to summon that monster, it's amazing."

"I have a feeling Seto is about to lose this duel." Marie boasted with a smile.

Raising his fist in the air, Joey added "Without a doubt, the rich boy is going down!"

The group only chuckled at him while on the field, the scene was intense. Kaiba glared at the monster and his jaws was clenched.

Venomously, he shouted "I will not be made a fool of Yugi Moto!"

"I'm not intending to, Kaiba, but this duel is over." Yugi replied with a sad smile. Pointing at the dragon, he called out "Dragon Master Knight, finish this duel be obliterating his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Dragon Saber Blast!"

Letting out a battle cry once more, the warrior aimed his sword at the three headed dragon across the field. Blinding white light began to fill the blade while the three headed dragon he stood on roared loudly and opened all three sets of jaws. At the same time, the three heads launched a powerful set of streams of white energy while the warrior fired a stream of white energy from his own sword. The four streams pulled together into a massive twisting stream of energy heading straight for the mighty three headed dragon across the field.

"Do you take me for a fool Yugi! I was prepared for such an action! I activate the trap Karma Cut! With this, I must discard a card from my hand, and now I can remove a monster from play on your field! Farewell to your last chance to win!" Kaiba declared with a bit of a chuckle.

Upon Kaiba placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, the trap that had risen up glowed to life and shot a beam of white light out at the oncoming attack. The attack was stopped in it's tracks and obliterated. The remaining beam of white light shot forward and struck the three headed dragon with the black armored warrior on it's back. Roaring loudly, the three headed dragon shattered along with the black armored warrior, leaving only the purple robed mage and purple armored warrior behind.

Growling lowly, Yugi switched the two remaining cards on his Duel Disk to horizontal positions, saying "I shift my monsters to defense and end." (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Smirking at his advantage, Kaiba drew and bellowed out "Destroy that pathetic Buster Blader with Neutron Blast!"

Roaring loudly, the three headed dragon opened each set of jaws and took aim. White energy began sizzling at the edges of each of their mouths while more power began to build up. At long last, each head roared loudly and shot a beam of hot white energy at the purple warrior.

Holding out his hand, Yugi cried out "I'm not letting my Buster Blader go away just yet! I activate the spell Command Silencer, which negates your attack and allows me to draw a card at the same time."

Appearing before the purple armored warrior was a totem pole with multiple animal head carvings on it. Raising a set of wooden wings on it's side, the totem pole sent out a set of sound waves, which instantly nullified the oncoming blast. With the blast gone, Yugi drew a card and quietly waited on Kaiba to finish.

"Fine Yugi, have it your way! I end my move for now with a face down card." (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Drawing his next card, Yugi showed it at long last. "I play the equip spell card called Magic Formulas, and equip it to my Dark Magician. This raises his attack points by 700 (2500 + 700 3200/2100)."

Glowing with a bright white light, the purple armored mage slightly smirked while the glow slowly faded away.

"Why bother Yugi? That mage doesn't have the strength to beat me." Kaiba grunted with irritation.

Nodding, Yugi replied "True, but you'll see soon enough. I end my turn." (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Grabbing a new card, Kaiba called out "It's over for that weakling mage! Destroy it with Neutron Blast!"

Letting out a massive roar from each of it's three heads, the three headed dragon opened their jaws and shoot out a beam of searing white energy. The three beams combined into one twisting energy beam and struck the purple mage, who cried out in great pain before shattering.

Covering his face from the explosion, Yugi smirked and said "It pains me to say this Kaiba, but thank you. By destroying my Dark Magician, you destroyed his equip spell. When it goes to the Graveyard, I gain a 1000 life points."

"No matter, because you're finished this turn!" Kaiba bellowed. "I activate my face down card, De-Fusion, but I chain it with Burial from a Different Dimension! By doing this, I can now return my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons from my removed from play pile. Next, since I played De-Fusion, I can split apart my fusion monster and bring out all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) from my Graveyard!"

Roaring softly, the three headed dragon glowed brightly for a moment and began swirling in a circle. From the swirling, the dragon vanished, but three other white metallic dragons appeared in it's place. Each dragon let out a soft roar and glared at Yugi, who gasped in shock.

"Game over Yugi. It's been fun, but you're done with this duel. Attack his pathetic Buster Blader now Blue-Eyes White Dragon with White Lightning!"

Letting out a massive roar, the first of the three dragons fired a blast of hot white energy at the purple armored warrior. The blast tore through the warrior easily, making him howl in pain before vanishing from the field.

"It's over Yugi!" Kaiba screamed. "Second Blue-Eyes White Dragon, destroy him with White Lightning!"

"Not quite Kaiba! Go face down spell card, Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This allows me to bring out my Winged Kuriboh (300/200) from my deck and put him onto the field in defense!" Yugi declared confidently.

Emerging onto the field with it's arms crossed was the small brown fur ball creature with purple eyes, white wings, and green hands and feet.

"My dragon will blow that fur ball away easily!" Kaiba snarled.

The white stream of lightning slammed into the little creature instantly, vaporizing it and leaving Yugi alone on his field.

Smirking at the loss of his monster, Yugi calmly said "Thank you for that Seto. With Winged Kuriboh in my Graveyard now, I take zero Battle Damage for the rest of my turn."

Glancing at his Graveyard Slot, he softly smiled and whispered "Thank you Winged Kuriboh. If not for you, I'd have lost here."

Appearing as a transparent image, the small brown fur ball creature with white wings closed it's eyes and let out a happy sounding "Kree" sound.

Grinding his teeth together, Kaiba grunted out "I end!" (Yugi 1075, Seto 500)


	17. Chapter 17: Rivals and Movements

**Hello again everyone. Well, not much has really happened since Tuesday, other than mine and my mate's computer room is cleaned up somewhat. We went through the room and removed a lot of clutter, plus dusted. Lol, the room hasn't been dusted in a while, along with the rest of the house. It's partially my fault, and partially my mate's, but oh well. Other than that, nothing to really talk about.**

**Writing wise, I'm still working a good bit on **_**Another**_**, although I'm getting ideas for this story as well. Soon me and ardee will move this story along, so no worries on it. Also, there is a possibility of a small short story coming up, but it's not one of my own design. I'll just leave things at that, so not to spoil where the story is coming from, lol.**

**Last time, Yugi and Kaiba's duel continued on, with Kaiba gaining the upper hand at the end with having all three of his Blue-Eyes White Dragons out. Now Yugi is pinned down, but can he counter the powerful dragons? And if not, will Kaiba take the title of King of Games?**

**Alright, it's time again! That's right, it's Review Time!**

**Raymond Barrett: Heh, yeah, the battle between Yugi and Kaiba isn't completely one sided, with each making strong moves to comeback, but yet not winning. True, Dragon Master Knight was removed from play easily, but it was required to save Kaiba's hide, lol. As for your question on Super Vehicroid – Stealth Union, here is the answer. Yes, it will first destroy the monster equipped with a union monster, thus destroying the union monster. But SV-SU can again attack that monster. When it say it can attack all monsters on the field, it means it can attack till nothing is left. I believe that is the correct ruling. If I'm wrong, someone will correct me, I hope, lol. I'm pretty sure that's how it would work though. Thanks for the review!**

**Yuki-Judai123: Ah, so you're curious how the Blue-Eyes destroyed Buster Blader, eh? Well, it's simple actually. Remember, the turn before, Yugi shifted Dark Magician and Buster Blader to defense. Hence, it didn't matter how many dragons were out at that point. Blader's defense points are unaffected by it's effect, so Blue-Eyes had an easy shot at it. I hope that answers your question. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yes, destroying BEUD with Dragon Master Knight would have been very ironic, but in the end, Kaiba countered with Karma Cut, saving his points and his dragon. Very true, Kaiba has a field advantage, but you can't count out Yugi yet either at this point. He's hanging in there, so who knows what will happen with that. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: I wasn't sure on the fusion thing, with using 2 substitutes, but thanks for clearing that up. That was fudged and I thought about it myself, but didn't question it, so oh well, lol. Ah, I didn't know that Advanced Ritual Art required you to discard the exact level of a monster. It's just something I didn't pay much attention to, lol. Thanks for pointing those two out though. Now I'll know, although it'll probably be fudged still, hehe. And yes, the anime has done far worse than I have on numerous occasions, lol. Yes, their decks are logically updated. Cards they should have are in, and ones that shouldn't be, well, aren't. True, I wonder how Kaiba can play Kaibaman with a straight face. I'd think the hilarity of playing a card that looks like you would make anyone crack up. But yes, the part with Dragon Master Knight was fun to read also (ardee wrote this duel btw, just so you don't think I'm talking in third person about something I wrote, lol). Lol, yes Vyser Dragoon, there is always Mind Crush. Can't think of a good move, just Mind Crush someone, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Lol, yes, there were so many close calls for both Yugi and Kaiba in this duel thus far. Heh, getting old? But these two are famous for nearly destroying one another, only to manage to survive, somehow, hehe. LOL! Yes, the Yugi Hair Star would work but is weird. With all that hair gel, he should be able to spear anyone, lol. The Kaiba Kick might break his hair though. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you each and every one of you for your reviews. I enjoyed reading this last chapter's. And for anyone who hasn't reviewed but has comments, questions, or opinions, please feel free to review and tell them to me, or PM them to me. I'm always happy to address them. Hence why I always have the reviews at the top of each chapter, lol. I just enjoy replying to them and explaining myself or having a little fun with them.**

**At any rate, thanks to everyone. I hope everybody has a good Memorial Day weekend. I know I will, with an extra day off. More sleep! For now though, I'm off to the dentist! Stupid fangs need cleaned. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 17**

"That was a close one." Joey softly sighed.

Lightly chuckling, which was uncommon to be heard anymore, Zane said "It's like he has nine lives. Is he part cat?"

"He must be because no one can ever pin him down." Marie muttered, but then smirked and added "Except Illidan and Jaden apparently."

Chuckling at his wife, Illidan replied "It happens I suppose. Still, I'm unsure how this will turn out. Yugi is still there, but with three dragons glaring him down."

"Yeah, and not just any dragons at that. That's all three of Kaiba's famous Blue-Eyes White Dragons." Mai added. "I don't see how Yugi can get out of this mess."

"He will, trust me." Joey declared. "IF anyone can beat Kaiba, it's Yugi. I've seen the man pull off more comebacks than anyone else, and I know he won't let it end like this."

Quietly, Illidan whispered "I hope you're right."

Back on the field, Yugi closed his violet eyes and pondered what to do. "_I have no real strategy to beating Kaiba now. The last card in my hand can't help me yet. But I won't give up, not now._"

Opening his eyes with confidence shining in them, he calmly drew his next card. Looking at it, he gasped in shock. Smirking, he said "Kaiba, it's time to end this."

"So, you're finally wising up and giving up?" Kaiba bantered with a smirk.

Shaking his head, Yugi replied "No, but I'm going to finish you. I summon my Magical Scientist (300/300) in defense!"

An older man with purple hair, a set of goggles, a white lab coat, and a yellow set of robes appeared onto the field.

"So, you're going to play defense, eh Yugi? He won't stop my three Blue-Eyes." Kaiba boasted.

Smiling, Yugi calmly replied "I know, he may seem weak, but he's not here to defend me, he's here to win for me. I play his effect, so by giving up a 1000 of my life points, I can special summon a level six or lower Fusion Type monster from my deck. The perfect one is this, my Dark Flare Knight (2200/800)!"

With a gleam in his goggles, the old man shot a beam of purple light out to the side of Yugi's field. From the glow, a warrior holding a flame orange sword dressed in black robes outlined with red. In his left hand was a shield with flaming designs. His helmet was in the design of a dragon's scaly head, with flame red designs burned in along the black. The only skin to be seen was his face and hands, which were uncovered.

Letting out a barking laugh, Kaiba pointed a finger at the warrior and declared "That useless warrior isn't even close to beating me or my dragons!"

"True, but you'll see soon enough." Yugi remarked. "Dark Flare Knight, attack his Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Flare Slash!"

Rushing forward, the black robed warrior leapt up into the air and prepared to slash one of the large white metallic dragon.

Shaking his head, Kaiba muttered "Pathetic Yugi. If you wanted to lose, you should have said so. Blue-Eyes, counter with White Lightning!"

Roaring loudly, the white metallic dragon opened it's jaws and shot a beam of hot searing white energy at the black robed warrior. The beam hit home and struck the warrior, who screamed out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

"This duel is over Yugi." Kaiba confidently declared. Looking at Yugi's life point meter, he gasped in shock when it never changed and snarled "What's going on!?"

"Simple Kaiba, my monster had a special ability." Yugi calmly explained. "When Dark Flare Knight is destroyed in battle, I take zero Battle Damage. Also, when destroyed, I'm allowed to special summon a new friend of mine, so welcome Mirage Knight (2800/2000) from my deck."

Materializing onto the field was a golden armored knight with a blue cape, large golden shoulder pads, a golden helmet that covered all but his mouth, and a large sickle like weapon in hand.

"Let's try this again. Mirage Knight, attack his Blue-Eyes White Dragon with Mirage Scythe Slash!"

Moving forward at a fast pace, the golden warrior moved his scythe out to his right side and prepared to strike.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Kaiba smirked and called out "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, eliminate his monster with White Lightning!"

Roaring loudly, the white metallic dragon shot a beam of white energy straight for the golden armored warrior. In a shocking move, the warrior dodged to the side and continued onwards with a white glow and more speed.

"WHAT!?" Kaiba bellowed in shock.

Smirking, Yugi called out "I kind of forgot to mention something about my Mirage Knight. He has a special ability. When he attacks a monster, his strength is increased equal to the monster he's attacking. That means he gains all the strength of you own Blue-Eyes White Dragon (2800 + 3000 5800/2000)."

The glowing warrior's strength instantly shot up, giving him even more speed than before. In a flash, he was upon the white dragon and ready to swing his scythe.

"Not happening Yugi! I play Negate Attack, thus stopping your onslaught!" Kaiba yelled.

Just as the golden warrior swung his scythe at the dragon's head, he hit a barrier, which his scythe ground against for a moment before he finally gave up and retreated to Yugi's field.

Lightly growling with irritation, Yugi heavily sighed and quietly placed a card into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I set this card and move to my End Phase, in which Mirage Knight's effect activates. Since he battled, he is now removed from play."

Shimmering, the golden warrior slowly faded away from the field while Yugi placed the card into his removed from play slot. In a quiet voice, he said "I end my turn." (Yugi 75, Seto 500)

Laughing manically while drawing his card, Kaiba smugly said "It's time to end this, but first I play my face down card, Double Spell! Now by discarding a spell card from my hand, I can use a spell card from your Graveyard. I toss out Dimension Fusion in order to help myself to your Card of Sanctity! And that means we each draw till we have six cards."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Kaiba calmly watched while it vanished and then picked up six new cards while Yugi did the same. Instantly, he began to darkly laugh and sneered at Yugi.

"This is the end for you my old rival. I activate the spell Fusion Recovery, allowing me to bring one Polymerization card and one Fusion Material monster back to my hand. I choose my Versago the Destroyer."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot pushed the two cards out and into Kaiba's awaiting hands, who picked up the two and placed the monster card into his left hand. Taking the spell card, he showed it to Yugi and called out "I play Polymerization, fusing my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons together to form my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800) once more!"

Merging together, the three dragons vanished from the field once more, giving way to the more powerful three headed dragon, which let out a massive roar.

"Things are far worse for you than you thought though Yugi. True, this dragon is powerful, but there is a much more powerful one in my deck yet."

Eyes widening, Yugi realized immediately what Kaiba was talking about. "That's right Yugi, you remember, don't you?" Kaiba mocked. "That time at the Duel Dome was a painful one for you, wasn't it? Well, it's time to get reacquainted with that pain! I sacrifice my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in order to summon my most powerful dragon! Arise Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!"

The three headed dragon let out a massive roar and suddenly vanished from the field in a blinding flash of light. The light was so bright, everyone but Kaiba covered their eyes to keep from being blinded. Slowly, the light died down, and in it's wake was a silver metal looking dragon with blue spheres running along parts of it's body. It had no arms, but mighty metallic wings, powerful legs, a strong tail, and a powerful head. The dragon let out a high pitched roar that was higher than any of the previous dragons had.

Staring at the dragon, the entire crowd gasped in shock at it. None could remember ever seeing the creature, except a very few.

Chuckling manically, Kaiba pointed an angry finger at Yugi. "This is the instrument of your doom Yugi. This dragon may not have seen you in eleven years, but it remembers your face, that much is for certain. Let's first begin with his effects, shall we. For every single Dragon Type monster in our Graveyards, my dragon gains 300 attack points. Right now, I have a total of eight, meaning he gains 2400 points (3000 + 2400 5400/2500)."

Softly growling, the metallic dragon's body glowed with a soft blue glow while it's strength increased.

"Next, from my hand, I play the spell Heart of a Dragon, allowing me to toss out three dragons from my deck to the Graveyard and grant my dragon an additional 1000 attack points."

Pulling his deck out, Seto selected three dragon cards and placed them into his Graveyard Slot, which sucked all three in slowly.

"My picks are Rare Metal Dragon, Luster Dragon #2, and Different Dimension Dragon. Plus, to boot, my dragon gains 900 more points for all the dragons I discard (5400 + 1900 7300/2500)!"

Growling lowly once more, the dragon's body glowed with a light blue aura while it's power increased even more.

"For my final card, I summon my Versago the Destroyer (1100/900) to the field."

Materializing onto the field was the purple and green wraith once more from earlier in the duel, who let out a light grunt.

"Oh, and let me remind you, no spell, trap, or monster effects can harm my dragon." Kaiba informed. "With that said, let's end this. Versago, rip apart that pathetic creature on his field!"

Rushing forward, the purple and green wraith crossed the field and slammed it's arms into the weaker mage, which shattered easily, leaving Yugi alone on his field.

"Game over Yugi, at long last. You're no longer the King of Games! Obliterate him with your Shining Nova Blast my mighty Blue-Eyes!"

Opening it's jaws, the metallic dragon let out a roar. With it's jaws open, rainbow colored energy, forming into the shape of a sphere, appeared. In a quick release, the sphere was launched straight for Yugi, who stared at it wide eyed. The sphere in and a large explosion ensued, making the whole arena shutter from the blast.

With maniacal laughter, Kaiba pointed at the smoke that had formed on the field and exclaimed "It's over!"

"Not quite yet…" a voice called out from the smoke.

Slowly, the smoke cleared the way, revealing Yugi standing steadily. Eyes shooting wide open, Kaiba screamed out "THAT CAN'T BE! YOUR LIFE POINTS SHOULD BE ZERO!"

"Should of, could of, would of, but not quite." Yugi cheerfully responded.

"There is no way you could have played anything against my dragon! It's effects would have negated them! So how did you survive!?" Kaiba demanded.

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Yugi waited patiently while a card slid out. Finally, the card was out and he held it up to show Kaiba. "Remember this monster? It's my Kuriboh (300/200). True I can't affect your monster directly, but the Battle Damage it delivered could be. When I was attacked, at the last moment, I tossed Kuriboh into my Graveyard, thus making all the Battle Damage I would have took go down to zero."

Grinding his teeth together, Kaiba shouted out "You'll still lose! I activate the spell Mystik Wok, and sacrifice my Versago to it. Now I gain life points equal to it's attack points."

Vanishing from the field, the wraith turned into golden dust and was fed directly into Kaiba's Duel Disk, causing his life point meter to jump up.

"I'm far from done yet, for next I activate the effect of my Thunder Dragon (1600/1500) in my hand. I discard it, allowing me to grab up to two more from my deck. Of course, I only have one left due that the other is in my hand. Plus, by doing this, my Shining Dragon gains 300 more attack points (7300 + 300 7600/2500). Then I'll repeat the same process twice more, even though I can't bring anymore Thunder Dragons to my hand. This will drive the attack points of my Shining Dragon up by 600 more (7600 + 600 8200/2500)!"

Placing all three monster cards into his Graveyard Slot, Kaiba smirked triumphantly while all were sucked in. The metallic dragon overhead softly growled while it's body glowed with a light blue aura, signifying it's strength was increasing once more.

"I end my turn now, meaning the effect of Heart of the Dragon is over, which lowers my dragon's points (8200 – 1000 7200/2500). Still, my Shining Dragon has more than enough strength to end this next turn. You'll lose regardless of what you do Yugi!" (Yugi 75, Seto 1600)

"Cranky, I think this duel is about over." Jim stated to the group.

Nodding, Bastion added "Yes, I concur. Nothing the King of Games plays can beat that Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. Seto Kaiba has played a strategy that is full proof."

"Come on guys, it can't be over yet. This is Yugi Moto we're talking about." Jesse argued.

"Get a clue dork. Kaiba has the clean cut advantage. Nothing Yugi has in his deck has that many attack points. It's over for him." Chazz pointed out.

Nodding in agreement, Adrian added "Even if he did find a way to weaken that dragon, there is nothing that can affect it. Kaiba said it himself, all spell, trap, and monster effects are ineffective against it, so what's the point for Yugi to even try."

"You guys are wrong." Jaden cut in, with a serious look on his face. "A duel isn't over till the last card is played, and I know Yugi's got some cards that can help him."

"Jaden…" Alexis softly whispered. Smiling, she nodded and said "He's right, this duel isn't over. After all, Yugi still has some life points, and he's notorious for making a comeback when it counts."

The others threw looks of disbelief at the happy couple, only to hear Jesse add "I know he can do it. He's the King of Games, and you don't get a title like that by losing confidence in a duel and quitting. He can do this, so just watch!"

Further down in the crowd, Mai looked on with worried eyes. "I think it's over for Yugi this time around. Kaiba's finally going to beat him."

"I wouldn't give up on him yet Mai." Joey commented.

"It's over unfortunately. Seto Kaiba has proven to be a better tactician, and has Yugi trapped." Zane countered.

Shaking his head, Illidan replied "It's not over yet Zane. You are one who should know that tactics don't always give you the win. Sometimes digging deeper than you ever have before will help you win a duel. All Yugi has to do is believe."

"But how can he win? No card in his deck has a chance of beating that dragon!" Zane declared.

Smirking, Marie calmly said "You have to just believe. Even when the odds are against you, sometimes there is a way to win."

On the field, Yugi looked at his hand and then back at his deck. Glancing up at the field, he bit his lip and frowned. "_How am I going to beat the dragon? It has 7200 attack points, meaning I have no chance at beating it head on._"

"_To defeat a force, sometimes you need to use that force's own power against it to win._" a voice in the back of his mind called out.

Remembering he had said those words once before when facing Yami and the three Egyptian God Cards, he smiled and closed his eyes. "_That's right, to beat something strong like the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, I need to find a way to use that kind of force back against it._"

Opening his eyes, he looked at his deck and prepared to draw his next card. "_Please Heart of the Cards, guide me!_"

Drawing his card, he looked at it and gasped in surprise. Lightly chuckling, he looked up at Seto with a smile and confidence shimmering in his eyes. "Kaiba, this is the end of the duel."

"Good, you're surrendering." Kaiba smugly replied.

Shaking his head, Yugi calmly said "No, I'm ending this duel by destroying your dragon."

"Impossible. You'd need a monster with over 7200 attack points, and no monster in your pitiful deck comes close. Even the Egyptian Gods couldn't muster that kind of power very easily."

"How about if I used an attack that had 9000 attack points?" Yugi questioned.

"You can't be serio-…" Kaiba began, but then looked into Yugi's eyes. Peering into them, he saw that he didn't lie, and that he had the same look that Yami had once had whenever he made declarations that would come true and to something he completely believed in.

Holding a card out in his right hand, Yugi said "I activate this spell first, my Soul Release! With this, I can remove up to five cards from either of our Graveyards. I choose yours, and remove all three of your precious Blue-Eyes White Dragons, thus weakening your Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (7200 – 900 6300/2500)!"

With all three cards slowly pushing out of his Graveyard Slot and then vanishing, Kaiba roared "HOW DARE YOU, YUGI!"

"The worst is yet to come Kaiba." Yugi chided. "I play my trap next! Go Return from a Different Dimension! To use this, I must first pay half my life points. Next, I may special summon as many removed from play monsters as I like, and I have the perfect three in mind. Return to my field now all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500)!"

Above the field, a multicolored rift opened. Slowly descending from it were the three white metallic dragons. Each let out a massive roar, but were silenced by a soft growl from the metallic dragon.

Staring in shock, Kaiba roared out "My dragons! Return them to me now Yugi Moto, do you hear me!!"

Lightly chuckling at Kaiba's irate yell, Yugi calmly replied "I'm sorry, but I can't. Not until I use them to destroy your own dragon."

Glaring hard at Yugi, Kaiba turned his eyes to his own three dragons and snarled "None of the three can beat my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. You may have weakened him slightly, but his power if far beyond their own power."

"We shall soon see, won't we Kaiba?" Yugi teased. "I activate my final card to end all of this. I play the spell Brave Attack!"

Staring at the spell card image, Kaiba's jaw fell open while fear shown greatly in his eyes. "Not that card! You can't!"

"I can and I will! Thanks to Brave Attack, the attack points of all my monsters will be added up and that will count as one attack against your own monster. Since Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon has 6200 attack points, it will combat your own three Blue-Eyes White Dragons with a combined strength of 9000 attack points. It's over Kaiba, and you know it be true."

Falling to his hands and knees, Kaiba's jaws clenched tightly. "_No, not again! Damn it, I've worked so hard! Once more I've failed to beat him in a duel! Why is it I continue to fail! Why!?_"

Feeling bad for Kaiba, Yugi's determination wavered for a moment, but finally he steeled his resolve. "This is the end. Blue-Eyes White Dragons…"

All three roared softly and opened up their jaws, revealing a flash of white light energy glowing within their throats.

"… White…" Balls of energy formed from the white energy within each dragons' mouth, seemingly waiting for the final attack order to be issued.

"… Lightning!"

With Yugi's order finalized, each dragon fired a stream of white energy straight at the metallic dragon. The beams combined while traveling across the field, creating an even larger beam. In an earth shattering shot, the combined blast struck the metallic dragon, which screeched loudly in pain. It flapped it's wings hard, trying to escape the blast, but found out quickly that it couldn't. Slowly, the strength of the attack began tearing the dragon apart, with it's wings first fading away, then it's legs and tail. It's chest was next effected, and finally it's head took the last of the powerful blast. Fading away, the dragon let out one final agonized screech before vanishing completely from the field. With the last of the dragon gone, a huge explosion ensued, shaking the arena down to the very foundations.

The explosion soon receded, leaving in it's wake a huge plume of smoke. On Yugi's field, the three white dragons seemingly stared into the smoke, looking for their fallen master. After a few minutes, the smoke cleared enough to reveal Kaiba still sitting on his hands and knees. Seeing he was alright, the three dragons vanished, but not before releasing a remorseful growl.

With the holograms now gone, it was made clear that Kaiba's life point meter had reached zero, while Yugi's Duel Disk now powered down. The crowd was silent and in complete shock at the last attack.

Walking over quietly, Yugi fell to one knee and offered a warm hand to Seto. Looking up from the ground with shocked eyes, Kaiba finally accepted and the two stood up. With a small smile, each shook hands, causing the crowd to roar to life.

"There you have it ladies and gents, a rivalry as old as time itself!" Pegasus blared into the microphone. "Our winner of this duel, the King of Games himself, Yugi Moto!"

Again, the crowd erupted in loud cheers. Walking down onto the field to congratulate their friends were Marie and Illidan, along with Joey and Mai. The entire group was smiling and congratulating one another when Pegasus walked onto the stage.

"And now my lovely audience, we have the finals set at long last! Tomorrow night, it will be the legendary King of Games, Yugi Moto himself, will be facing off with up and coming star Illidan Stormrage! This titanic battle will be one not to forget! Till tomorrow night, enjoy your evening!"

--

Sitting in his chair still at the round table, the figure set his wine down onto the table and smirked. The table was now empty, leaving him to think on his own.

Idly playing with a box that was sitting on the table, he quietly opened it and stared at the four cards sitting inside of it. Three of the cards glowed with a black aura, seemingly screaming to be released, while the last was calm.

"You wish to return to that realm, don't you?" the figure questioned with a smirk. The cards black aura's pulsed lightly, seemingly responding with a resounding "Yes."

Hearing a person approach, the figure looked up at the arrival and sneered. Closing the box, he slid it across the table to the person.

"Take those to her. She will need them." the figure commanded.

Nodding, the person picked up the box and walked out of the room, leaving the figure alone once more. Lifting his wine glass up once more, he took another sip and smirked.

"Play time is over. Now it is time to duel, for your life." the figure declared with a maniacal laugh.

--

In the middle of the forest, a blue shimmering portal suddenly opened up with a whoosh sound. Stepping from the portal was a figure in a set of black robes that covered them head to toe.

Stepping forward was a figure oddly dressed in a blue coat with pink ruffle sleeves and a pink ruffle collar, and black pants. The figures hair was blonde with a long pony tail that was bound up. Their lips were a shade of blue and his mouth had a smirk on it.

Looking at the blonde haired figure, the black robed one said "What a disgusting form you have taken. Couldn't you find any other?"

"Don't get grumpy with me over this ridiculous form." a female voice fired back. The voice did not seemingly belong to the figure, but nonetheless came from it's mouth. "I wish I could have taken another form myself, but I was only able to find this one when I arrived. I should have taken Viper's form instead, then I'd have at least look somewhat normal."

Sighing, the figure in black robes put his hand into his robes and pulled out a small wooden box and offered it to the blonde haired figure. "Master Lucifer sent these to you for your own use. He has instructed me to tell you and your ally to move on the chosen ones tomorrow night during the duel. Your ally is to take the target as instructed and bring it to Master Lucifer. You should move in closer tonight. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do, you oaf." the feminine voice fired back. "I maybe in disguise, but this foolish human's mind is not a part of my own."

"I see. My apologies." the robed figure replied. "I shall leave you to your job then. Just make sure our ally does his part. Master Lucifer will be awaiting him."

"Very well, Beelzebub. Once I have concluded business with whoever is foolish enough to fight me, I shall return as well." the female voice said.

Nodding, Beelzebub walked back into the portal with a smirk, causing it to close behind him.

--

Staring at the numerous cards before him, a silent figure in a black set of robes picked a card up and placed it into a stack of cards. The figure had light teal colored hair, which was semi long, but was puffed out a little. He wore glasses that hid his green eyes. His face was young, but seemingly full of concentration.

Hearing a rustling in the woods, the figure quickly hoped up and moved behind a nearby tree. Holding a hand up near his chest, his hand began to glow with a dark black aura.

After a moment, the blonde headed figure walked out into plain sight and smirked. "Jumpy there, aren't you?" the feminine voice teased.

Slightly sighing, the teal haired figure returned to his sitting position where his cards sat on the ground. Returning to his work, he grumbled "You should know that Zane patrols these woods still. If he found either of us, all this secrecy would be for nothing."

"Do you actually fear that mortal?" the feminine voice asked.

Smirking, the teal haired figure shook his head and replied "Of course not. That boy is weak, and as I said, a boy. True, his body is older than this one, but still, his heart is weak. I was nearly beside myself to lose it, but I've coped. I'll be happy to transfer to a new body one day."

"For now though, we have orders."

"Orders?" the teal headed figure asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Nodding, the blonde haired figure lightly chuckled. "Yes, Master Lucifer has sent us orders to proceed tomorrow. We are to move closer tonight and prepare for tomorrow's duel. Once it begins, I am to be the decoy while you complete your mission. You understand, don't you?"

"But of course. I've been waiting all these months for this damn mission to be completed. I can't wait to leave this pathetic island." the teal haired figure grunted out. Looking to the blonde for a moment with a curious look, he asked "What is the world like where Master Lucifer is?"

Shrugging, the blonde haired figure replied "It's very different from this world. Monsters rule, although there are humans there. For the most part, Fiend Type monsters rule that world, but they are fearful of me. There has been talk though from what I heard that there was a Fiend uniting many of the other monsters together into an army, but I'm sure by now that army has weakened."

"I see…" the teal haired figure mumbled.

Noting the cards on the ground, the feminine voice chuckled and asked "Still working on completing that deck?"

"Yes. Once I leave this world, I won't have access to any cards. I'll need a powerful deck if I'm to be prepared for the future."

Smirking, the blonde haired figure mentally said in the teal haired figure's mind "_You mean for when you betray Master Lucifer._"

Throwing a sharp glare at the blonde haired figure, the teal one growled back "_Stop doing that!_"

"_It is the only way to talk without our so called 'masters' listening in on us. What, would you rather us talk and be heard, then both be destroyed for our arrogance? That will not happen to me._" the feminine voice sternly replied.

Slightly sighing, the teal haired figure returned his attention to his cards. "I only have tonight to finish. I must remain hidden, for if they found me, it would all be over. What do you plan to do?"

"I plan to go and secure a new vessel tonight. If I can find one, I will use it for tomorrow night. In the meantime, I will keep this one in service to me, but not for long."

Understanding, the teal haired figure replied "I see. Do as you please. Just don't get caught and return by dawn."

"Understood." the feminine voice said. Standing up, the blonde haired figure walked off towards the glowing lights of the school.

--

Putting a sleepy Arya down in her crib within her own room, Marie sadly sighed. Looking down at her daughter, she stifled a sniffle.

"I wish I hadn't accepted that stupid bet…" she muttered lowly.

Feeling a pair of powerful arms wrap around her waist, Marie lightly sighed and relaxed back against the warm body of Illidan. "Marie, you do realize that if anything happens with Arya, we'll be able to hear it, don't you?" he asked.

"I know, but I just don't want to let her go. I mean, if we let her have a little freedom now, what about in a few years!?" she asked with a touch of concern.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan kissed Marie's neck and sarcastically replied "You're right, next thing you know she'll be running off to be with the boys!"

Grunting with irritation, Marie sighed and slightly chuckled herself. Hearing her chuckle, Illidan once more kissed her neck and said "Marie, she'll be fine. After all, she has to grow up a little bit at a time. This is just a small step. We'll see how it goes tonight, and if she needs us, we'll come get her. Okay?"

Turning her head to look back up at Illidan, Marie slightly nodded and said "Ok."

"Good. Now, it's time for sleep for our little girl." he calmly said and released his wife. Walking over to the crib, Illidan pulled the blanket up to the little girl's neck. Bending over, he kissed her on the forehead and softly smiled down at her.

"I love you Arya. Good night." he whispered. The small child in the crib slightly twitched at the words, but paid no heed.

Moving the nearby baby monitor into the crib Illidan turned to Marie and offered his hand to her. "Ready to pay up my dear?" he mischievously asked.

Sighing, Marie smiled and nodded. Leading her out of the bedroom, Illidan stopped in the hallway and carefully shut the door to their daughter's room. Crossing over to their own room, Illidan dragged Marie in and shut the door. With the door shut, he quickly whipped around and lifted Marie up into his arms, who let out a small eep in surprise. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and the two kissed slow and long.

Finally pulling away, Illidan laid her down onto the bed. Smiling at her, he quietly said "I'm ready to collect my prize now."

"And I'm ready to pay up." Marie purred with a small smirk of her own.

--

Staring out at the ocean from a small set of cliffs, Kevin softly sighed. "Things sure haven't gone the way I thought they would for this tournament." he dejectedly grunted.

Thinking back to his duel with Illidan, he softly smiled. "_Even though I lost to that guy, I got to admit, I had fun. I figured I'd win, but he was far tougher than I gave him credit. I hope I get a rematch with him sometime._"

Hearing a sound behind him, Kevin turned and looked. Standing there was a stranger he had never seen before on campus. The person looked like a teacher, but he still couldn't identify him. The person had blonde hair in a ponytail, a blue coat, signifying he was an Obelisk Blue teacher, with pink frilly lace on his cuffs and collar, and black pants. His lips were painted blue, almost violet, and he had an odd expression on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt you young man. I was just out patrolling the campus." the man squawked.

Shrugging, Kevin replied "No problem. I was just staring out at the ocean."

"You seem to be troubled." the teacher pointed out. "As a teacher, I can pick up on these things. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, not really." Kevin flatly replied. "I'm fine."

Watching the teacher get closer, Kevin ignored him and returned his gaze to the ocean, but was suddenly unnerved when a new, feminine voice filled the air.

"Are you sure you're not disappointed with that loss to Illidan?" the voice questioned.

Quickly shooting a look back towards the teacher, Kevin gasped when he realized the voice had come from him. "How did you do that?"

"What, my voice? That's my real one." the female voice replied with a light chuckle hanging in the air. "You seem powerful. I wonder, do you wish to exact revenge on your loss?"

Shocked at the question, Kevin growled out and shot back "No! I'm fine with my loss."

"Are you now?" the voice mocked. "I think you wish to be more than you are. Are you afraid to push forward?"

Irked by the questions, Kevin glared at the teacher and finally made up his mind. "I'm done with this conversation. Good night." he declared in a clipped tone.

A hand suddenly landed on Kevin's shoulder, annoying him even farther. Turning to throw an angry glare and tell the teacher where to take his attitude, he gasped in shock at what he found. Standing there was some kind of female creature, one that he couldn't identify, with a clawed hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to leave. After all, you look like you'll do for a worthy host." the female voice declared with cold intentions in her eyes.

Kevin's eyes widened greatly at the statement, and moments later, a horrified scream of pure fear filled the air that belonged to the young man, but no one heard it due to the remoteness of the location.


	18. Chapter 18: Stolen

**Hey everyone! Well, this weekend was a somewhat busy one. It started on Friday, with my step brother's graduation from high school. I'm glad he made it though, and congratulated him on it. Graduation wasn't as long as I thought it would be, which was a bit of a plus. Oh yeah, and the streak that never ends continued on while I was there. Every single graduation I've been to, it rains. On my own high school one, it rained. In college, the same thing happened, with both instances I was outside in it… On my sister's graduations (high school and college), it rained. And now the cycle is complete, on my step brother's, it rains. If it rains on his college one, I swear, no more graduations for me. Not even for my own kids that I'll one day have! Lol, joking of course. I'd go, or more like my mate would take me at claw point, hehe. At any rate, Saturday was cool, with my step brother having a graduation party, where I met lots of relatives and all. Sunday, I saw my grandparents, who are doing well. My grandpa imagines the most interesting things at times, lol. Yesterday, not much happened, I mostly relaxed after cleaning my car out, which badly needed it. This morning, I went and got my teeth cleaned, which to my relief, the dentist said my teeth were in good shape. I was concerned due that I haven't been in over three years, but she said they looked good, so happy day.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along. I'm coming up with plenty of ideas on duels for this story, so that's all and good. I've been poking at **_**Another**_** quite a bit, but not really doing much with it either. Eh, we'll see, I'll get both going soon, I hope.**

**Last time, Yugi won his duel through some tricky strategy, using all three of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragons to destroy Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. Afterwards that night, two figures were seen plotting something, but what is not clear yet. The one called Lucifer has set into motion some kind of plan, but what will it mean to Illidan and Marie, along with all of the others? Could this be the one that controlled Viper, or is this another person hiding in the shadows?**

**Ok, time once again to do it! That's right, review time!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks, and yes, Lucifer and Beezlebub. Yes, I know there were a few errors in strategy, hehe. First off, yes, Return from a Different Dimension was misused. It only works on your own removed from play pile, not yours and your opponents. Good catch on that. Wow, I hadn't really realized that Thunder Dragon wasn't a Dragon Type monster. Heh, you learn something new each day, lol. But good catch on that. I had no idea. Glad you liked the chapter though. Heh, they could be possessed, or just clones, or copies, or something! You never know, lol. I know, quit playing mysterious, hehe. Never know what happened to Kevin, of course till we find out. Thanks for the review!**

**Nathan: Lol, yes, a shocker that Yugi won the duel. True, though it would be nice to see Kaiba win for once. Just to see him laugh his hearty laugh. Knowing him, he would have confetti flown in and falling for his win, lol. Glad you liked the final moves of that duel. Kuriboh is like the only monster to beat BESD, and Kaiba loses thanks to that same dragon. Possibly the fates of Crowler and Syrus are known, but you never know what's up with them. Like I said in the above review, they could be clones, fakes, or something else. But yes, it seems that all hell is about to break loose at the moment. Correct that I'm incorrect. After I posted my review, I had got to thinking on it, and was like, I'm a dummy for saying something like that, lol. Thanks for correcting me on that one. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Never know, this Lucifer could be the new villain, or he could be an observer. Glad you liked the last few chapters. These chapters were all ardee in reality, for it was him that did the Yugi and Kaiba duel, and he did a fine job at it. Yes, Kaiba brought out BESD once more to have a second try at the King of Games, only to have him fail. Yes, this duel seemed to work out for the best. Heh, the plot twists should make things interesting, needless to say. True, the fate of Crowler and Syrus isn't very well known, and then there is the unfinished business of Viper. Things are getting more mysterious, that is for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yep, the duel is over and Yugi wins! (/Hears crowd cheer\) Lol, but yes, he won in the end. True, Yugi and Illidan face off next, but things will be interesting in that duel, that's for sure. Yes, Master Lucifer, who makes things sound much more complicated than they already were. Alternate dimensions, who knows, lol. I know, cute mystery work. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Heh, yes, many anime choice effects, but it happens, hehe. True, Mind Crush is old school and out. That was Yami's move anyways. Yugi needs something hip and fresh. Egyptian Fury, eh? Never know, it could work, although I'd reserve that for an actual Egyptian. (/Points at Marik.\) Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this round. Thanks for the reviews everyone. I really enjoyed reading them like always. It was fun. I hope that everyone will enjoy this next chapter, because things are about to happen, like always, lol.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today, so enjoy!**

**Chapter 18**

Staring at his stack of cards, Illidan slightly sighed. Ever since dawn, he had been up and preparing his deck for his duel with Yugi that night.

Standing up, he walked over and glanced out the window at the blue sky outside. With a small sigh again, he walked out of his office and into the kitchen. Finding a mug, he poured some hot water into it that he had already left heating on the stove. Grabbing a familiar small can of cappuccino nearby, he scooped out four spoon full's of powder and stirred it into the water. Finishing, he walked back to his office and sat the mug down. Bringing it up to his mouth, he blew on it slightly to cool the liquid before he chanced a drink.

Relaxing into his chair, he sighed contently. "Nothing like French Vanilla Cappuccino to get you going in the morning." he murmured.

Setting his mug down, Illidan glanced out the window once more. "_Tonight is the night me and Yugi have our rematch. Even though I know it's a big duel, I have the feeling that something isn't right. Like something big, other than the duel, is going to happen tonight._"

Appearing beside of him in spirit form was a mage in black leather armor with blue skin and strange red eyes with yellow corneas.

"_Master, I feel that something is going to happen too._" he mumbled softly to Illidan.

"Yeah… I wonder what though? I hope this has nothing to do with Viper's so called master." Illidan grunted out with a small sigh and took another drink from his mug.

Nodding, the mage slowly vanished, leaving Illidan to his own thoughts. "_It's been a few days, and still there have been no signs of any kind of foul play from anyone. It makes me wonder, why has Viper's master not attacked yet?_"

Heavily sighing, he stood up and drank down the last of the hot liquid. Staring out the window at the sea, he clenched his right first. "_No matter what, I will protect these students from whatever happens._"

--

At long last, evening finally came to Duel Academy. Together, Illidan and Marie, with Illidan pushing Arya's stroller, made their way to Yugi's home. Yoshi had once again met them out in the yard, showing off her large amount of energy.

Going inside, the happy couple walked into the living room to find Tea sitting on the loveseat reading a magazine. She quickly put it down and warmly smiled up at the couple while Illidan quietly pulled their daughter out of her stroller and set her in the playpen up against the wall.

"So, how are you two this evening?" Tea warmly asked.

Smiling back, Marie replied "I'm pretty good. I figured I'd be more strung out over last night, but I've been pretty good."

"I heard that you had lost your bet. Too bad, but I'm guessing it was worth it, eh?" Tea teasingly commented.

Giggling lightly herself, Marie nodded and sat down on the couch. "Yes, it was well worth a loss I suppose. I feel much better now, to say the least."

Hiding his smile, Illidan took a seat next to his wife and glanced around. "Where is Yugi?"

"Still preparing for tonight's duel." Tea blandly replied. "You know him, he wants his deck to be ready for whatever you throw at him."

"Yeah…" Illidan lightly said.

Smiling, Marie casually said "You missed a very intense duel between him and Kaiba last night."

"I heard from Yugi. From the sounds of the duel, it was just as intense as the old days when Yugi and Kaiba would go at it, with Yami in tow of course." Tea replied.

"I miss Yami doing all the work." a voice called out, making the group look to see Yugi walking into the room with a small smirk.

Lightly chuckling, Tea stood and replied "You did a lot of the work too you know. If not for you, Yami wouldn't have survived some of those duels."

"So true my dear." Yugi replied with a smile. The two walked to one another and hugged for a moment and shared a chastising kiss.

Turning to Illidan and Marie, Yugi asked "Are you two ready to head out?"

Standing up themselves, Illidan quietly nodded while Marie smoothed out her skirt and said "Yep, we're ready."

Walking over to Arya, Marie lifted her up out of the playpen and kissed her daughter's cheek, saying "You be a good girl for Aunty Tea. I love you baby girl."

Arya simply cooed slightly, earning a small giggle from Marie. Illidan was next to take his daughter into his arms and kissed her forehead gently.

"Be good for Aunt Tea. I love you Arya." he soothingly said.

Setting his daughter back into her playpen, Illidan turned his attention to Yugi and Tea, who were kissing deeply. After a moment, the two came up for air with them resting their foreheads against one another's.

Regaining his breath, Yugi reached up and cupped Tea's cheek and said "I love you Tea. I'll be home later, hopefully with a new trophy."

Softly chuckling, Tea nodded and embraced Yugi once more. "I love you too Yugi. Just be safe."

"I will. Have fun." he commented while escaping her embrace.

"You too, and don't kill Illidan!" she playfully called out.

Lightly chuckling at her words, Yugi, Illidan, and Marie all three went outside to find Yoshi still playing. Seeing her father, Yoshi ran to Yugi, who leaned down and hugged his daughter.

"Daddy, will you be back later?" she asked with curious violet eyes.

Smiling warmly at his daughter, Yugi nodded and said "I'll be back in time to tuck you in, ok. You be a good girl for your mother, alright?"

"I promise I will be daddy!" Yoshi chirped.

Kissing her forehead, Yugi quietly said "Good girl. I'll be home later. Take care."

"I will! Go win the big one daddy!" Yoshi cheered, earning several chuckles from Illidan, Marie, and even Yugi.

Together, the three friends walked away from the Obelisk Blue House and towards the main part of the school. No words were said, with each of the two competitors seemingly zoned out and off in their own worlds.

--

Quietly watching from the woods, a figure smirked when he watched the three people leave the Obelisk Blue House. Closing his eyes, he began to focus on the person he needed to speak with.

"_Phase 1 is complete. The three have left the house and are headed for the competition as expected._" he mentally called out.

On the receiving end, a young man with blonde bangs smirked and mentally called back "_Excellent. That means all is going as planned. In thirty minutes, begin Phase 2. Contact me once it's complete._"

"_Will do._" the figure replied and opened his eyes. Checking his watch, he smirked and sank down, patiently waiting for the right time to make his move.

--

Arriving at the dueling arena, Illidan stopped short and looked to Marie with a kind smile. Embracing her lightly, he kissed her lightly and said "This is where we part ways till the end of the duel."

"I know. Good luck out there. And don't forget, have fun." she commented with a smile.

Smiling back, he nodded and kissed her once more. Pulling back, he whispered "I love you."

"I love you too." Marie replied and walked off towards the stands.

Calming himself, Illidan turned to see Yugi waiting on him. Quietly, the two made their way to the holding area where duelists would wait for their duel to start. Neither said a word to the other, each seemingly trying to focus their minds on the upcoming duel.

"_This won't be easy. Yugi has only gotten stronger since the last time I fought him._" Illidan commented in his mind. Smirking slightly, he added "_Still, so have I. I just have to stay calm and pay close attention to his moves._"

"Oh Yugi-boy, Illi-boy!" a singsong voice called out, making both Illidan and Yugi cringe slightly.

Both turned to find Pegasus walking up to them with a brilliant smile on his face. "I see both of you made it tonight! This duel will be one that no one will forget anytime soon, don't you two agree?"

"I suppose so Pegasus." Yugi blandly commented.

Adding on, Illidan said "I guess."

Smirking at the two, Pegasus clasped his hands together in front of his chest and said "Ah, this feels like old times! Just remembering the duels I had with the two of you makes me wish I still was dueling."

Returning to reality, he calmed down and said "I wish you both luck in this duel. Just remember Yugi-boy and Illi-boy, try and come out of this as friends still."

"Not a problem." Illidan sharply remarked. Yugi simply nodded in reply, earning him a small smile from Pegasus once more.

"Well then, I need to go out there and rile the crowd up. Once you hear your names, come on out. There are a few opening ceremonies, but nothing big." Pegasus explained.

Turning, he walked away, but stopped before leaving the two. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled and said "Good luck to both of you."

With that, he left the two alone once more. Closing his eyes, Illidan began focusing his mind on the task before him. In the back of his mind though, he couldn't help but feel like something was wrong still.

"_Quit worrying for a moment. If something happens, I should be able to sense it. For now, if I'm going to win against Yugi, I need to focus on this._" he grumbled.

Finally feeling calmed, he opened his eyes and saw Yugi was doing the same thing he had been doing. After a moment, his friend opened his eyes, revealing his violet orbs.

Smiling at one another, they each reached out a hand and shook.

"Yugi, no matter what happens, I wish you good luck." Illidan kindly said.

Nodding in reply, Yugi said "I wish you all the luck too Illidan. No matter what happens, we'll still be friends."

"That's right." Illidan replied. "Nothing can severe that bond."

Releasing one another's hand, the two stared one another down for a moment and each finally smirked.

"You know Illidan, I've been waiting for this day for a while. Since last year to be exact." Yugi calmly said.

"I've been looking forward to it too." Illidan remarked. "This should be fun."

"Indeed."

--

Checking the time, the figure hidden in the nearby forest next to the blue colored house sneered. It had been thirty minutes, so the figure closed their eyes and called out mentally to his contact.

"_Phase 2 is commencing._"

--

Rocking Arya in her arms, Tea was lightly humming a lullaby. She had just fed the young child her bottle and was hoping to get her settled in for her evening nap.

Smiling down at the little girl, Tea couldn't help but feel slightly jealous that she didn't have a small child of her own anymore. Yoshi had grown up so fast in her mind.

"_It just seems like yesterday she was a baby herself. Then Yugi left and she suddenly grew up so fast. I guess I was missing Yugi so much that the time flew by so fast._"

Softly smiling once more, she glanced to the corner of the room where Yoshi sat at a small table. She was furiously coloring a coloring book that Marie had given her earlier that week. Since Tea could remember, Marie had always brought Yoshi coloring books, and Yoshi had taken to them. If she wasn't hyperactive and running around the house playing, she was sitting quietly coloring.

Lightly chuckling in her mind, she imagined how life would be whenever Yoshi was a teenager. "_She'll be such a heartbreaker, I know it._" she mused.

Without warning, there was a knock at the door, startling Tea slightly. Frowning, she looked towards the door. "_Odd, who could be here now?_"

Hearing another knock, she sighed and called out "Just a moment."

Walking over to the playpen, she gently laid Arya down into it and placed a blanket over her and softly smiled. Hearing another knock, Tea began to feel agitated, but calmed herself and walked over to the door.

Opening the door, Tea found a young man with light teal colored hair, which was semi long, but was puffed out a little. He wore glasses on his nose and had green colored eyes. His clothing consisted of a yellow jacket with a red undershirt and black pants.

Smiling at her, the young man said "Good evening Mrs. Moto."

"Good evening… eh, I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Tea commented with a shy smile.

Returning the smile, he calmly said "My name is Syrus Truesdale."

Frowning, Tea pondered on his name. "_I've heard that name before. It was Yugi that made mention of it once, I think..._"

Leaving her thoughts behind, she took in the young man's appearance, but couldn't help but feel a cold chill running up her spine. She had met lots of students since she had arrived, but this young man was giving her an uneasy feeling for some reason.

Fighting her feelings, Tea smiled and asked "How may I help you, Syrus?"

"Professors Illidan and Marie sent me to fetch Arya. They decided to bring her to the duel once they got there." Syrus informed Tea.

Brow furrowing, Tea began to feel a bit more uneasy about the young man. "Why did they send you and not come themselves? They've only been gone for thirty minutes." she questioned.

Shrugging, Syrus sheepishly smiled and said "You know them, they're weird like that."

"_This makes no sense. First off, why send a Ra Yellow Student to fetch Arya? Next, why didn't Marie herself come to get her? And finally, why would they want to take her to the duel? Marie has constantly told me that Arya fusses during duels usually. Something isn't adding up._" Tea determined

Returning to the current situation, she apologetically smiled and said "I'm sorry Syrus, but I can't let you take Arya with you. Please fetch Marie or Illidan and have them come get her."

The smile on Syrus's face vanished rather quickly and was replaced with a frown. "But they asked me to pick her up. Please, I need to take her to them immediately. I told them I would do it!" he pleaded.

Staring at Syrus, Tea felt guilt over her reply, but decided to stand firm. "I'm sorry, but I can't just let you take her with you."

Once more looking at the young man, Tea's mind finally remembered where she had heard the name before. "_Yugi had said something about a kid named Syrus Truesdale had vanished! This is Zane's brother! But why is he here!? Unless..._"

"I'm sorry Syrus, but I must go attend to a few things. Goodbye." Tea quickly said and began to shut the door.

To her surprise, Syrus stopped the door from shutting. "I can't allow you to do that, Mrs. Moto." he coldly said in a totally different voice.

Looking down at his face, she saw the seriousness in it, and that his eyes had changed colors. No longer did they hold a soft green color, but held a cold icy blue color that sent shivers down her spine.

Using all her strength, she tried to shut the door, but found quickly that she couldn't budge it. Without warning, he threw it open, making her scream out in shock and quickly back up.

Hearing her scream, Yoshi came running to her mother's side and asked "What's wrong mother!?"

Fearing for her daughter, Tea yelled "Get Arya and run!"

"But Momma…"

"Don't argue Yoshi, just do it!" Tea ordered sternly.

Nodding her head, Yoshi ran towards Arya's playpen, only to suddenly be stopped by Syrus, who had moved faster than Tea or Yoshi could see.

"I think not, little brat." Syrus coldly said with a glare in his eye.

Holding his right arm out with his palm pointed at Yoshi, black energy formed in Syrus's palm. It soon formed into a sphere of dark energy, making Tea's eyes go wide.

"MOVE YOSHI!" she screamed while running towards her daughter.

It was too little, too late though, for Syrus released the blast, which struck a shocked and surprised Yoshi. She flew across the room from the impact of the blast, sending her crashing up against the wall to the kitchen. Her small form quickly hit the ground hard, making her fall unconscious instantly.

Throwing a glare at Syrus, Tea charged him, screaming "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Sneering at Tea's charge, Syrus was quick to dodge her incoming fist. Again and again, she threw fists at his head, only to hit air.

"You're too slow." Syrus blandly stated.

Growling lowly, Tea continued to punch at Syrus, hell bent on stopping the young man no matter what to protect her family. Again and again, she punched at Syrus, still hitting nothing at all.

Finally having had enough, Syrus sidestepped Tea when she threw her last punch and landed a heavy fist in her stomach, making Tea gasp in shock and fall onto her hands and knees, but then to her side.

"Pitiful." Syrus commented.

Turning away from Tea, he walked towards Arya's playpen, who had woken up during the commotion and had begun to cry loudly. Approaching the playpen, Syrus peered in and sneered at the wailing child.

"Why my Master wants you, the daughter of the Pharaoh's whore, I'll never know." he ground out.

Preparing to reach in, he was suddenly stopped by a hand wrapping around his ankle. With a jerk, he was suddenly pulled away and lost his balance. Quickly getting up, he saw that it was Tea, who was weakly standing up herself.

Snarling, Syrus growled out "You wench! How dare you make me lose my balance!"

"I'll do more than that!" Tea wheezed out.

Rushing towards him, she threw a punch, only to have him dodge slightly. She had guessed he would do this, so threw a quick round house kick at him. The kick landed perfectly against his kidneys, catching him by surprise and making him retreat a short distance.

"Not so defenseless, now am I!?" Tea challengingly declared.

Sneering at her, Syrus rushed towards her, only to vanish into thin air. Tea glanced around, but didn't have to wait long for the attack. Within a moment of glancing for him, she was hit hard in the gut once more, this time knocking her backwards onto the ground.

Standing over Tea's fallen form, Syrus sneered and kicked her in the head, effectively knocking her out. Blood lightly trickled out of her mouth, but it was only a small amount.

With a grunt, he tightly said "Be lucky I'm not to kill you. I should, but I won't, I suppose."

Walking over to where Arya was still wailing, Syrus reached in and gathered the crying child into his arms. With her in his arms, he turned and began walking out of the house, but stopped midway to the door. Reaching into his pants pocket, he pulled a letter out and threw it onto Tea's fallen form.

"Soon the games shall begin, and Illidan will know true horror." Syrus commented.

Leaving the house, he closed his eyes and mentally called out to his partner "_Phase 2 complete. I'm leaving with our objective. See you on the flipside._"

"_Farewell partner. Till we play again._" a feminine voice called back.

Smirking, Syrus opened his eyes and stretched out his right hand. Concentrating, he mouthed strange words. Finally, without warning, a blue shimmering portal opened before him. With a smirk, he walked into it with Arya still wailing in his arms.

--

"Ladies and Gents, tonight duel will be one to remember, that much is for sure! In the finals of the Genex Tournament, you shall witness two superstars do battle for the title of the number one duelist!" Pegasus blared into the microphone, earning him plenty of cheers from the crowd.

Pointing at the tunnel where the duelists would come out, he cried out "Without further ado, let us bring out the duelists! Give them a big round of applause!"

The crowd roared to life with applause while Illidan and Yugi quietly walked to the dueling ring. Entering it, the two stared at the large capacity crowd and each softly smirked at it, knowing both Pegasus and Seto were eating it up.

"Our first competitor is a powerful duelist who has been up and coming through the ranks of the Pro League. I give you Illidan Stormrage!" Pegasus declared while pointing at Illidan.

The crowd cheered loudly, with it mostly being the students. Giving a light wave to the crowd, Illidan slightly smiled.

Pointing over towards Yugi, Pegasus slowly said "And his opponent, a man who hardly needs any introduction. At the age of sixteen, this young man defeated myself in the finals of Duelist Kingdom, earning himself the title of King of Games! In the Battle City Tournament, he defeated the most talented duelists to become ranked the number one duelists in the world, and did so once again in the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship. Time and time again, he has proven himself to be the true number one duelist within the world, so give it up for the King of Games, Yugi Moto!"

With a deafening roar, the crowd all cheered loudly for the King of Games while he waved at them all. Loud cheers of "Yugi!" bellowed throughout the arena, making it hard for anyone to hear a thing.

Finally, the cheering quelled a bit, prompting Pegasus to continue. "This duel is about to commence, so duelists, exchange decks and shuffle."

Simultaneously, Yugi and Illidan handed one another their decks and shuffled quietly. Once finished, the two handed them back to one another. Each offered the other their hand, which both shook and gave one another a high five before moving towards their starting marks.

With each at their marks, Pegasus called out "Duelists, prepare to begin! Since Illidan won his match first, he shall begin!"

Earning a nod from each, Pegasus left the ring quickly. At his appointed seat, he yelled "Duelists, you may begin!"

Each nodded to one another and prepared to fire up their Duel Disks when suddenly a small explosion rocked the arena, causing massive panic within the crowd.

Both duelists looked towards the source of the explosion and quickly saw a figure walking out of a cloud of smoke towards the pair. The figure was instantly recognized as Kevin Hunter, which made Illidan and Yugi both frown in confusion.

Each then realized he was holding a detonator in his right hand and had it held tightly with his thumb on top of it. He had a smirk on his face while staring at Illidan and Yugi, but continued walking towards them.

Arriving at the ring, he curtly said "Yugi, Illidan, good to see you two haven't begun your fireworks display."

"What have you done Kevin!?" Illidan ordered with a touch of shock.

Sneering, Kevin stretched his left hand out towards Pegasus, seemingly asking for the microphone. Seeing Pegasus wouldn't turn loose easily, he made a motion to trigger the detonator in his right hand. Grunting with irritation, Pegasus relented and threw the microphone to the young man, who expertly caught it.

"Thank you, Mr. Pegasus." Kevin silkily said. Returning his gaze to Yugi and Illidan, he smirked. "Well, well, you two seem rather confused."

"Kevin, why are you doing this!?" Illidan demanded with a bit of a snarl.

Shrugging, Kevin slowly spoke into the microphone, saying "I'm doing this due that I want to. Oh, I would warn you, this place has several explosives armed and ready to blow."

The crowd all panicked upon hearing his words, with most quickly rushing out of the arena. Few remained, mostly consisting Jaden and his friends, along with most of Illidan and Yugi's friends.

Seeing most of the arena was empty, Kevin smirked once more. "That's much better. Those people were annoying."

Frowning, Illidan was about to ask what Kevin meant when suddenly Kevin pressed the button on the detonator. "NOOO!!" Illidan screamed while rushing towards Kevin.

Instead of setting off a series of explosions, the small detonator shot confetti out of the bottom of it with a small flag, saying "Surprise!"

Bursting out loud laughing, Kevin threw the used up detonator to the ground, along with the microphone. Seeing Illidan and Yugi's glares, Kevin smirked and asked "Can't you take a joke?"

"That was no joke!" Illidan screamed while charging the young man. He soon arrived and grabbed him hard by the collar and hauled him into the air with one hand. The other, he fisted and prepared to strike the smirking young man.

"Temper, temper Illidan." Kevin teased. "If you harm me, you won't get the information you need to know about."

Holding his fist steady while glaring a hole through Kevin's head, Illidan snarled "What information!?"

Chuckling, Kevin grabbed Illidan's wrist and gave a painful squeeze, making Illidan drop him to his feet. Adjusting his clothing, Kevin flashed a smile.

"About Viper's master. You're so curious on him, I know that you are."

A bit shocked at Kevin's accusation, Illidan growled lowly "What do you know?"

"Lots, I assure you, but I'm sure you would want to know more about the danger your daughter is in." Kevin nonchalantly replied.

Eyes widening, Illidan grabbed Kevin by the collar again and slammed a heavy right hand into Kevin's jaw, making blood begin to leak down from his lip. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU BASTARD!?"

Smirking at Illidan, Kevin simply said "Nothing, myself that is. But my friend at the moment is more than likely succeeding in taking your daughter to Viper's master. Oh yes, and I would worry too Yugi about your wife. I'm sure she is in a bit of danger herself."

Throwing Kevin to the ground, Illidan began to run towards the exit of the arena with Marie and Yugi following closely. Arriving at the doors that led to the outside, Illidan slammed into a barrier. Turning to glare at Kevin, he heard the young man chuckling darkly.

"LOWER THE BARRIER!" Illidan roared.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, you must defeat me to leave." Kevin coolly said while whipping the blood away from his lip.

Rushing onto the stage, Jaden called out "Professor Illidan, go on, I'll take care of Kevin! Go save Arya!"

Knowing that Jaden was trying to buy him time, Illidan nodded slowly and said "Be careful."

"You can't escape my barrier fool, so why bother?" Kevin questioned.

"The better question is why don't you turn and face me, coward!" Jaden yelled.

Seeing he was free from Kevin's glare, Illidan hunched over and began gathering Shadow Magic into the palm of his left hand. Black sparks suddenly began flaring around his hand while he continued to increase the power.

After a minute, he finally straightened up and lunged forward, striking the barrier with his glowing hand.

"SHADOW BLADE!" he screamed while slamming his hand into the barrier.

Instantly, the barrier groaned under the strength of Illidan's attack. At long last, the barrier could take no more punishment and shattered, allowing people to exit.

"COME ON!" Illidan screamed while running through the open doors to the outside world. Marie, Yugi, Seto, Joey, Mai, and most of their friends quickly followed, leaving a mostly empty arena behind.

--

Watching Illidan leave, Kevin smirked and returned his vision to Jaden. Smirking evilly, a feminine voice escaped Kevin's lips while his eyes turned orange, saying "It seems we're all alone at long last, Jaden. I've been dreaming of this for years since you threw me away."

Freaked out by the voice change, Jaden asked "What is up with your voice, and your eyes!?"

"What's wrong Jaden, don't you recognize it?" the female voice questioned.

Jumping up on the stage beside of Jaden, Jesse pointed a finger at Kevin and said "I have a better idea than you facing Jaden alone. Face the two of us, you freak!"

"Jesse, don't get involved in this. We have no idea what Kevin is capable of, or why his voice is changing." Jaden warned.

Smiling, Jesse replied "I'm not worried. Besides, the two of us could beat the pants off of him!"

Deciding Jesse was right, Jaden smiled and said "Alright then, both of us challenge you to a duel!"

Shrugging, Kevin calmly replied in his feminine voice "Very well, I accept. I'll make sure you suffer horribly through this duel Jaden."

Moving into position, Kevin's female voice added "Since it's two vs. one, the rules are simple. I get 8000 life points to start out, while the two of you get 4000 a piece. Also, no attacks till each of us have went through our first turns. Sound fair?"

"Agreed." Jaden and Jesse said together.

"Jesse-boy, one moment please!" Pegasus called out, earning him a puzzled look from Jesse.

Pulling a card out of his suit, he handed it to Jesse and smiled. "Here is a card I was going to hand you later, but I guess you need it now. I just finished it today. I think you'll be most pleased."

Looking at the card, Jesse gasped at it. Returning a shocked look to Pegasus, he asked "Are you sure?"

"I'm definitely. No go kick his butt with Jaden-boy!" Pegasus remarked with a smile. At that, he ran off towards the exit where the others had left.

Nodding, Jesse placed the card into his deck and shuffled. Jaden frowned slightly at what was going on, but shrugged it off and shuffled his deck too and placed it into his Deck Slot on his Duel Disk. Kevin did the same, much like the other two.

At once, all three activated their Duel Disks, causing them to glow to life. Picking up five cards each, the three called out "Game on!"


	19. Chapter 19: Vengeful Duel, Pt 1

**Hello again everyone. Well, not much new since last time. Life just continues on, it seems, lol.**

**Writing wise, not too much new to report. I'm still coming up with stuff for **_**MtM**_**, and also coming up with some stuff for **_**Another**_**. Other than that, I haven't done too much writing really. Mostly a lot of brainstorming in my head. Man, I have too many ideas floating around up there. It feels like it is going to explode some day, hehe.**

**Last time, Syrus made an appearance at long last, although it seems he is not quite himself, or has taken a drastic change. He knocked Yoshi and Tea both out and took Arya away, while Kevin showed up at the dueling arena to deliver the grim news to Illidan and friends. To make things worse, Kevin tried to keep Illidan within the arena and force him to duel, but instead, Jaden stepped in with Jesse to form a 2 vs. 1 duel while Illidan managed to escape with his friends to save Arya. Will Illidan and Marie make it back to Yugi's home to save Arya, or is their daughter truly gone? And what of Kevin and Syrus? What will become of them now?**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, that twist was hard to see, lol. Thanks for the comment. Possibly Kevin is possessed, but that's not a for sure thing yet. Eh, if he is possessed, I'm sure he wouldn't need the demon hand to do it. True, Syrus let Tea live, but why is the question, and is that Syrus even? Nicer than he lets on? Possibly, I suppose, lol. You never know what kind of person Syrus is, especially after what he did to Tea and Yoshi. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Yes, a very interesting turn of events. Heh, yes, destruction, mayhem, and confetti always make things much more fun, hehe. Eh, you never know, that may not be Yubel. (/Hears loud yells for mysteriousness.\) But yeah, Syrus fought, if that was really Syrus. Lol, yes, the Syrus Sucker Punch! Nice new move, lol. Maybe a little out of control with those attacks, but it happens. Hmm, interesting tidbit about 5Ds. Ah! Not the Vyser Dragoon Cannon! Oh wait, I'll just clog the cannon with my handy extra large cork. (/Places cork in and watches cannon explode back in your face. Gives a victory sign.\) Lol, I know, I'm a bit insane. Thanks for the review!**

**Okami Princess: That could be Yubel. You never know. Glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: Thanks. It's cool about not reviewing. If someone like my dad was in the hospital, I wouldn't do anything either. Like I've always said, personal life first, then other stuff. That always matters the most. I hope your dad gets better soon. Thanks about the Yugi and Seto duel, although that was all ardee really. He wrote up that duel. It's cool about not being able to review for a while. You do what you need to. This story will be around for a while, so no worries. Like I said, take care of personal life first. I hope all goes well in it for you. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: LOL! Yes, Arya has been kidnapped, which doesn't go well for the happy couple. Hmm, as for Kevin being controlled, it could be by who you're thinking it is, or it could not. I know, quit being mysterious, but that's just me, lol. True about Jesse maybe needing Pegasus's gift. Yes, I made sure the next chapters aren't a repeat of season 3. Heh, when I have I ever completely repeated the shows' duels? Come now, you know me better than that, hehe. Heh, there are many comparisons to DBZ and my story I suppose. I did kind of use DBZ characters as models for some characteristics of some of my characters. I mean, Marie obviously has some of Gohan's qualities (hidden powers), and others have them too. Heh, true, Tea lasted much longer than Chi-Chi, hehe. Thanks for the comments. Yep, things are unraveling quickly and in a very destructive way. The OC making his move? I can't remember which OC you're talking about, sadly, lol. Please remind me, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yep, quite a bit happened this chapter. It could be Rainbow Dragon that Pegasus gave to Jesse-boy (lol, just fun to call him that), or it could be some other card. Never know. Hmm, is that Yubel? You never know, it could be someone else, or it could be her I suppose. I know, quit the mysterious stuff already, lol. If it is her, she could be behind all of this, or not. I suppose the duel could be somewhat like how Jaden and Jesse teamed up against Marcel in season 3. Hmm, is Lucifer being controlled by Lucifer? That's a good question, now isn't it? I think you'll find your answer soon. Yes, only I know, and ardee, and my mate, if she remembers… Heh, the graduation wasn't bad. It only sprinkled enough to cool things off really, which made it dip down into the 50's I think. So, it was cool and breezy, making it very lovely out. I wish you luck on yours. Just don't invite me, that way it for sure won't rain, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you to each of you for your reviews. They were interesting and helpful as always. I really do like reading them. They're very helpful in helping my writing style. Heh, it's still evolving after all this time.**

**It just dawned on me that I've been working on this series for a very long time. I began it back in my senior year of college, which was back in the end of the summer of 04. Here it is, four years later, with me having four stories to this series. I must say, this series has been on a very long run. It's kind of sad I guess to see it is coming to an end, but at the same time, kind of nice to see it will end soon. I've really loved working on it, but it's time this series is put to bed. I think Illidan and Marie will look forward to a well deserved retirement, lol. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm done writing by no means, just so everyone knows. I have no intentions of quitting, not by a long shot. I have much work left to do on **_**Another**_**, then I have a bunch of one-shots to complete, plus other story ideas. So don't think for a moment that the half demon will be riding off into sunset once this series ends. This maybe my first series, but it's not the end of my writing.**

**Anyways, I'm done for today, so I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 19**

Drawing his sixth card, Jaden slapped it to his Duel Disk. "I'll kick things off by summoning Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200)!"

Emerging onto the field in a spray of bubbles was a man wearing a white cape, with two silver air tanks on his back, a light blue helmet that covered all but his mouth, the same colored shoulder pads, gloves, and boots, with dark blue filling in the spaces missing, and a small blaster like attachment on his right arm. He had a small smile on his face, seemingly confident in his abilities.

"Whenever Bubbleman is summoned and I have nothing on my field, I'm allowed to draw two more cards!"

Snapping off two cards, Jaden smiled and said "Sweet cards! I activate one of them, the equip spell Bubble Rod! This card hooks my Bubbleman up with 800 more attack points (800 + 800 1600/1200)!"

Materializing in the blue warrior's right hand instantly was a blue mace like weapon with red bumps on the top of it.

"Way to bubble up those points Bubbleman. Next up, I play the spell E – Emergency Call! With this, I can go searching through my deck and add any Elemental Hero to my hand."

Pulling his deck out, Jaden fanned out and finally found the card he wanted. Showing the card, he calmly said "I pick this, my Elemental Hero Burstinatrix."

Shuffling his deck back together, he placed it back into it's slot and picked another card from his left hand to play. "Now I play the spell card Double Fusion! This card is very handy, because now I can have two Fusion Summons this turn. I'll begin by fusing together Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Burstinatrix (1200/800) to create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman (2100/1200)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field was a green feathered warrior, along with a woman in a red jump suit with black fanned out hair. The two swirled together, forming a creature that had a red dragon head for a right arm, a mostly green and black body, with a long red tail, and a white wing on it's left shoulder. The creature's head was mostly black with some red, and it's eyes were red.

"Don't get too comfortable with Flame Wingman, because next up, I use Double Fusion to fuse him and Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) together to form the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman (2500/2100)!"

A blue and gold armored warrior with electricity flowing around his body appeared onto the field beside of the green combo warrior. Swirling together, a blinding beam of light formed on the field. From the light, a set of metallic wings with razor sharp feathers appeared. As the light faded, more of the creature became apparent. Next was it's powerful white legs, then it's torso, followed by it's powerful white armored arms, and at long last the creatures helmeted head. The only skin seen was on the creature's neck, which was a shade of green.

"Want more, well check out this special effect action! For every Elemental Hero in my Graveyard, Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points. At my last count, I have four total, meaning Flare Wingman gains 1200 extra points (2500 + 300 4 3700/2100)!"

Glowing brighter, the white armored warrior raised his arms up slightly while gaining his new found power. Lowering them, the warrior's green glow died down a bit, but still remained bright.

"I'll end with a face down. Take it away Jesse!" (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 8000)

Smiling at Jaden's field, Jesse exclaimed "Nice moves partner! Now let me show you what I got!"

Drawing his next card, Jesse slapped the card horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I start by summoning my old friend, Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle (600/2000) in defense!"

Materializing onto the field with a bright glow was an eight sided green emerald gem. The gem slowly glowed to life, and in a flash, the gem was gone and a blue turtle shell with green emerald spikes sticking out appeared. Inside of the front of the shell was a pair of green eyes, seemingly hiding from everything outside.

"I'm not through yet, for I play the spell Double Summon! This little baby allows me to summon another monster, so I'll pick my Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1600/1000)!"

Emerging onto the field was a bit of a roughly cut topaz colored gem. Glowing to life, a white tiger with black stripes, a sharp silver fang like horn on his head, sharp fangs, and four silver fang like spikes, each on one leg appeared. The tiger let out a low growl, seemingly trying to strike a bit of fear into Kevin.

"I'll end my move with two face down cards. Let's see what you got Kevin!" (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 8000)

"Those two have a good start going for them." Bastion commented.

Nodding in reply, Hasselberry added "The Serge has an all star lineup, and Jesse has a nice start too. No way this freak is going to beat them!"

In a low, quiet whisper, Alexis mumbled "I know you can do this Jaden."

In the dueling ring, Kevin drew his card and began chuckling in a feminine voice and sneered at Jaden. "You'll pay for what you done to me, Jaden. Once I'm through with you and your little friend, you'll be begging for me to take you back."

"I don't even know who you are to begin with, so I don't think I'll be asking to go back." Jaden replied with a clueless expression on his face.

"You'll see, soon enough." the feminine voice replied. "I set this monster and activate the spell Book of Taiyou. With the help of this spell, I can flip my face down monster into face up attack mode. Reveal yourself my Big Eye (1200/1000)!"

The horizontal card image vanished from the field and gave way to a reddish muscular creature with several blue eyes on it's body, with one being at the top and another under it. It wore green shorts on it's lower half and had rippling abs.

"Thanks to my monster's flip effect, I'm allowed to look at the top five cards on my deck now and then placed them back in any order I so choose."

Picking up five cards, Kevin examined them momentarily before placing them in a new order. Finishing, he slid all five back onto the top of his deck and smirked. "Next, I activate the spell Monster Gate! I must sacrifice a monster, so be gone Big Eye!"

Slowly, the red eye creature vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a large circular portal with shimmering blue light.

"Monster Gate now allows me to pick up cards from the top of my deck until I draw a monster. If that monster can be special summoned, I'm allowed to put it into play."

Gasping in shock, Jesse growled lowly. "Jay, he used that Big Eye monster to spy on the next five cards, meaning he could have picked a powerful monster to be the top card."

"Yeah, I know. This isn't looking well." Jaden commented.

Smirking at the two, Kevin replied "It sure isn't. I draw, and wouldn't you know it, it happens to be a very powerful monster indeed. I summon Ultimate Obedient Fiend (3500/3000)!"

Slowly walking out of the blue shimmering portal was a red creature that looked like a massive devil. It had three eyes with four buttons on it's forehead. On the sides of it's head where ears were supposed to be were two large golden horns. The creature's chest had what looked like teeth that were clenched. Letting out a massive roar, the creature made the duel ring shake a bit.

"Do you like it Jaden? I see how you're trembling in fear already." Kevin's feminine voice taunted.

Growling lowly, Jaden shot back "I'm not afraid. After all, Flare Wingman has more than enough power to take that thing on!"

Sighing lightly, Kevin nodded and the female voice replied "True you are Jaden, but not for long! I activate the spell Pot of Greed, meaning I can draw two more cards."

Picking up two more cards, Kevin smirked. "I activate two copies of this, my Fiend Sanctuary! With them, I can special summon two Metal Fiend Tokens (0/0)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field were two small creatures made up of metal spheres that gradually got larger in a hunched over stance.

Darkly chuckling, Kevin stared straight at Jaden. "Now I will use all three of these creatures to bring out your worst nightmare Jaden. This card will show you that you shouldn't get rid of such powerful cards."

"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked with confusion on his face.

"You don't remember these cards either, do you Jaden? It's a shame, especially since you last saw them last year. Remember the fear you held for them? The pure terror that made you want to not face them?" the feminine voice questioned.

Eyes widening suddenly, Jaden exclaimed "But those cards are gone! I sent them away!"

"Well, they've returned!" the female voice declared. Slapping a card to his Duel Disk, Kevin's feminine voice yelled out "I sacrifice all three of my monsters to summon one of the three Legendary Demons! Rise up Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000)!"

Rising up from the stage behind Kevin was a thick purple fog, which seemed to be forming a cloud. Through the cloud came two massive blue wings with thin see-through skin, large blue horns at the top, and powerful sharp talon like claws attached to purple hands came out of the darkness. Slowly, the cloud diminished, and the rest of the creature came into view. It's body consisted of purple and light blue. It had massive chiseled out abs, muscular arms and legs, and finally a strong head with a strange crown like set of horns. The creature let out a massive roar, making the very arena shake.

Laughing manically, Kevin pointed an angry finger at Jaden. "STARE INTO THE FACE OF THE CREATURE THAT WILL HELP BRING YOU DOWN JADEN!" the female voice blasted.

Staring at the creature in disbelief, Jaden fell to his knees. Falling to his hands, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "_No, it can't be! It just can't be! I gave those cards to Yami to take away! So how are they back!?_"

Noticing Jaden's fallen form, Jesse called out "Jaden, you got to get up partner! We have to take Kevin down!"

"I don't know if I can…" Jaden lowly said. "Last year, when I fought The Legendary Demons, I nearly lost. Illidan fell protecting me, but in the end gave me the only chance to beat them. Then there was two years ago when I fought them. Professor Banner gave me a card to beat them with, and I barely did that. I don't think I can beat them again…"

"Hog wash!" Jesse fired back. "Jaden, you've beaten these things more times than anyone else, so you can't tell me that you don't think you can't beat them. I know you can, because we all believe in you. Heck, I believe in you, so get up and help me take those things down!"

Opening his eyes, Jaden looked over at Jesse's serious face and realized how determined he was. Slowly nodding, he stood up and looked at his deck. Images of all his monsters appeared in his head, seemingly all calling for him to fight on.

With new determination, Jaden nodded and said "Alright, we'll fight them!"

"Together!" Jesse added with a smile.

Both nodded to one another and turned hard glares towards Kevin. "Hear that Kevin, we'll fight you tooth and nail to beat you!" Jesse declared.

Chuckling, the feminine voice replied "I see, then I shall enjoy cleaving you two up. I place a card face down and end my turn." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 8000)

Looking at the blue and purple creature with wide eyes, Hasselberry softly growled to himself. "That's the thing that me and Syrus fought last year. This isn't good for the Serg…"

"Indeed, this is very bad for him and Jesse. Raviel alone is more than enough trouble for Jaden and Jesse." Bastion commented. Glancing at Jaden, he added "But still, Jaden is an equation alone that cannot be defeated by brute force. If I know Jaden, he'll figure out a way to win this duel."

"He just can't give up. If he does, who knows what will happen to him!" Alexis worriedly added.

Crossing his arms, Chazz muttered "Come on Slacker, wipe this guy out."

On the field, Jaden picked up a new card and examined it carefully. Finally, he said "I have a question there Kevin. How did you come into possession of those cards?"

Lightly chuckling, the female voice said "I shall gladly tell you. I received them from my Master, the same one that Viper worked for. He sent them to me, telling me to use them to eliminate anyone who got in my way."

"You won't be doing anything once I'm done with you!" Jaden fiercely declared. "I activate the spell card Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three new cards. Once I'm done, I must discard two to my Graveyard."

Snapping off three new cards, Jaden examined them for a second and picked two. With a patient hand, he placed the two cards into his Duel Disk's Graveyard Slot, saying "I'll toss out Elemental Heroes Neos and Wildheart."

Watching both get sucked in, Jaden smiled slightly. "With those two new monsters in my Graveyard, Flare Wingman's attack points go up another 600 (3700 + 2 300 4300/2100)!"

Glowing with fresh green energy, the white armored warrior let out a soft battle cry while preparing to fight.

"Flare Wingman, take down Raviel with Shining Emerald Orb!"

Letting out a small battle cry, the white armored warrior flew into the air and held his hands out. Green energy flooded between it's hands, forming a sphere. Without hesitation, the warrior tossed the blast straight towards the towering blue and purple creature.

Smirking at the oncoming blast, Kevin clicked a button on his Duel Disk, making the face down card he had rise up. In an arrogant tone, the feminine voice said "I play my trap, Skill Drain! I must first give up 1000 life points, but that's a very small amount since this card does so much. Since I just gave up points, all monster effects are negated."

Both Jaden and Jesse gasped in shock while all five monsters on the field glowed with a light red aura.

"Oh, and by the way Jaden, that means your Flare Wingman just got weaker (2500/2100). With him attacking, that means he's going to lose this fight with Raviel."

The emerald energy sphere struck the large blue and purple creature and exploded, but no damage was done to the creature. Stepping forward, the creature raised a clawed hand and glared at the shining green white warrior.

Sneering, Kevin's feminine voice said "Raviel, cleave that monster up with Shimmering Slash!"

All five claws on the purple and blue creature instantly glowed to life with a light blue light. Sending it's massive hand flying towards the white armored warrior, the creature let out a small groan.

"Not so fast Kevin, I play my face down spell, De-Fusion! This splits Flare Wingman back apart into Elemental Heroes Flame Wingman (2100/1200) and Sparkman (1600/1400), with each going into defense!" Jaden hurriedly declared.

Glowing with a white flash, the white armored warrior split apart just in the nick of time when the claws of the large blue and purple creature were about to hit. Reforming onto the field were the black and green creature with a white wing and the blue and gold armored warrior, each in a kneeling stance.

"Clever Jaden, very clever." the feminine voice mocked.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jaden picked up the remaining vertical positioned monster card and shifted it to a horizontal position. "I switch Bubbleman to defense and call it a turn." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 7000)

Releasing a breath she had been holding, Alexis worriedly looked at Jaden. "_Jaden... I know you can do this. I believe in you Jay. You can do anything you set your mind to, so go kick Kevin's butt!_"

"This does not bode well for Jesse and Jaden." Bastion stated. "Without monster effects, neither have a clear advantage."

"But they still have plenty of monsters!" Hasselberry argued.

Shaking his head, Bastion returned his view to Jaden and Jesse.

"Don't get down Jay, we'll beat Kevin yet. We just got to trust in our decks." Jesse encouraged.

Smiling at the teal haired young man, Jaden nodded and replied "You're right, we're not done yet."

Drawing his card, Jesse pondered on it for a moment before saying "I switch my Topaz Tiger to defense. At that, I'll end my turn." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 7000)

Grabbing a new card, Kevin sneered and wistfully said "Not much you two can do, now is there? In the meantime, I summon this, my Opticlops (1800/1700)!"

Slowly appearing onto the field was a tan skinned cyclops creature with a horn sticking out of his head. He had sharp clawed hands and toes, and had an impressive muscle build.

"Opticlops, smash Sparkman into oblivion with Earth Slammer!"

Rushing forward, the cyclops leapt into the air and slammed a heavy fist into the weaker blue and gold warrior, which let out a cry before exploding, leaving Jaden covering his face from the smoke.

"Raviel, cut his pathetic Flame Wingman to ribbons with Shimmering Slash!"

Stepping forward, the blue and purple creature let out a small roar while it pulled it's right clawed hand back. All five claws glowed to life with light blue energy. In a quick slashing motion, the creature sank all five claws into the green and black warrior, who let out a cry of agony before shattering, leaving Jaden covering his face once more from the explosion.

"I shall end my turn at that Jaden. Are you afraid yet?" (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 7000)

Softly growling, Jaden quickly drew his card and fired back "I'm not afraid of you Kevin!"

Looking at the card, he frowned. "_Air Hummingbird would be great to use right now, but without his effect, he's a sitting duck. Man, I could take down Raviel, but with that trap out, I can't even touch it. I guess I'll just have to fend for myself for now._"

Glancing over at Jesse, he noted the young man was staring seriously at Kevin's field. "_I can only hope Jesse defends me if I get in trouble._"

"I'll pass this turn." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 7000)

Quietly drawing a new card, Jesse examined the card and finally smiled. "I'll throw down a face down card and summon my Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) in defense."

Glowing to life on the field was a cobalt blue stone. Shining brightly, the gem vanished and in it's place was a brown eagle with an orange like mane of feathers that rolled down his back. Around his chest was some kind of plate with blue on it. On each of his wings, near the tips, was a blue rounded stone. Fully on the field, the bird pulled it's wings in and sank down onto a horizontal card image.

"I think that's enough for now. Have a go at it Kevin." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 7000)

Snorting, Kevin drew and looked at his card for a moment, but was quickly interrupted by Jesse. "Hold on there Hos! Before you begin, I play my trap, Dust Tornado! With this, I get to destroy one spell or trap on your field. That Skilled Drain looks like a perfect card!"

Blowing up onto the field was a brown twister, which quickly struck the card image of Kevin's trap, shattering it instantly.

"With that thing gone, all our monsters regain their special abilities!" Jesse informed.

Smiling, Jaden called out "Great job Jesse!"

"Thanks Jay."

"Are you two done!?" the feminine voice cut in with annoyance ringing clearly. "I summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500)!"

Forming on the field was a purple skinned warrior with curled up blue horns on it's head, a sword on it's right side, and a black cape on it's back.

"Opticlops, eliminate Jaden's last defense with Earth Slammer!"

Leaping into the air once more, the tanned skin cyclops began his descent quickly and slammed a heavy right fist into the blue armored warrior, who cried out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

Softly growling, Jaden called out "Oh yeah, well you just triggered Bubble Rod's effect! When it goes to the Graveyard, I draw a card from my deck."

Watching Jaden draw his card, Kevin shrugged and chuckled darkly. "That maybe so Jaden, but what will protect you now from Raviel!"

Roaring loudly, the blue and purple creature took a step forward and flexed it's right clawed hand. "Raviel, eliminate Jaden from this duel and repay him for the pain he's caused us both! Shimmering Slash!"

Pulling it's clawed hand back, the blue and purple creature sent light blue energy into it's claws, making all five glow brightly.

"Not happening, because I'm defending my partner!" Jesse cried out. "Cobalt Eagle, go protect Jaden!"

"_I'm on it boss!_" the eagle replied and unfurled it's wings. With massive beats of it's wings, the eagle quickly rushed in front of Jaden, just in time to take the hit from the glowing light blue claws. The eagle screeched out in pain and quickly exploded, leaving a puff of smoke in it's wake.

Slowly, on Jesse's field, a glow formed, taking shape of the blue crystal that the eagle had came from.

Staring at the new crystal, Kevin frowned. "What is that?" the feminine voice demanded.

Smirking, Jesse replied "That would be the secret power of my Crystal Beasts. You see, when one is beat in battle, they're not destroyed. They come back in my Spell/Trap Zone as a Precious Crystal. In other words, they're treated as Continuous Spell Cards. I can't really use them for anything, but the secret behind them will be known soon enough."

"Whatever…" the feminine voice growled. "I move to attack Jaden directly with Archfiend Soldier! Fiend Slash!"

Throwing his cape behind him, the purple skinned warrior rushed forward and drew his sword.

"Not if I protect Jaden again! Emerald Turtle, lend Jay a hand!" Jesse called out.

"_Can do Jesse!_" the turtle called back. His shell suddenly began spinning rapidly. Without warning, the shell slid across the field to in front of Jaden. The oncoming soldier struck the shell hard with his sword, but the sword snapped in half. Seeing this, the purple skinned warrior retreated to Kevin's field.

Growling softly, the feminine voice snarled "You will pay dearly for getting involved in mine and Jaden's fight!"

"I'm not worried. Jaden is my buddy, and I won't let anything befall him that could hurt him. If you want to get to Jaden, you'll have to get through me!" Jesse fiercely declared.

Glaring at Jesse, Kevin harshly said "I end my turn!" (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 6900)

Quietly picking up a card, Jaden smiled at it and calmly said "I have no idea who you are, but we're going to evict you from Kevin's body! I'll begin by playing this, my O – Over Soul! This handy spell allows me to resurrect a Normal Type Elemental Hero from my Graveyard and put it back on the field. My choice is rather simple, my Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Appearing onto the field was a blue O. From the O emerged a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints touched down onto the ground. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

Glaring at the white warrior, Kevin snarled. In a deep, angry voice, the female voice growled out "Neos, the very monster that caused all of this trouble! **It's your fault Jaden betrayed me and now refuses to remember me!**"

Confused, the white warrior looked to Jaden with a puzzled look. Shrugging, Jaden replied "Don't look to me for answers. I have no clue what that voice is talking about myself. In the meantime, I'll summon my Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (800/600)!"

Materializing onto the field from a green glow was a red bird warrior with white wings on his back and clawed hands. Sticking his chest out, he planted his hands onto his hips, seemingly posing.

Nodding towards the white warrior and the red bird warrior, Jaden said "Neos, Hummingbird, do your thing! Initiate Contact Fusion!"

Flying high above the field, the white warrior hovered over top of the red bird. Slowly, the two slid together, forming a blinding white light. Emerging from the light was a red skinned warrior with large white wings on his back. His hands had brown like gloves that ran up to nearly his elbows, and on his feet were brown like boots. On the warrior's chest was the same symbolic circle that the white warrior had previously had.

"Meet my Elemental Hero Air Neos (2500/2000)! And check out his sweet special ability. Whenever your life points are higher than my own, which they are right now, Air Neos gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points."

"DO WHAT!?" the feminine voice roared.

Smirking, Jaden replied "I said my monster gains the difference in our points. Right now, the difference is 3400, meaning Neos is going to get stronger (2500 + 3400 5900/2000)!"

Glowing with a bright green glow, the red skinned warrior let out a small yell while his power increased.

"Air Neos, take down Raviel with Arial Blades!"

Unfurling it's wings, the red warrior beat it's heavy wings downwards a few times to get high into the air. Taking aim, the warrior made a slashing motion with each wing, sending out two white blades of energy. Each blade cut into the large blue and purple creature, which howled in pain before finally exploding.

Kevin screamed out in pain from the explosion and fell to one knee. Looking up at Jaden with tears threatening to fall, the feminine voice cried out "WHY ARE YOU HURTING ME, JADEN!? DON'T YOU REMEMBER YOUR PROMISE THAT YOU MADE TO ME THAT YOU'D NEVER HURT ME!? DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!?"

Completely confused, Jaden sorrowfully said "I'm truly sorry, but I don't know who you are. I do know if I made a promise like that, I'd remember it. And even if I had made that promise, I can't accept how you're treating Kevin. Snatching his body away and using it as a puppet is wrong!"

Pausing for a moment, he added "And besides, I can't stand by and do nothing. You said Illidan's daughter, Arya, was in trouble! If you had something to do with it, then you don't deserve mercy. That's why I'm playing this spell card, my Contact Out! With it, I can send Air Neos back to my Fusion Deck, but then special summon from my deck both Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000) and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (800/600)."

Glowing slightly, the red warrior with white wings faded away from the field, only to be replaced by the powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn and the red bird warrior once more. The red bird warrior instantly dropped into a kneeling position on top of a horizontal card image.

"Neos, take out Opticlops with Cosmic Crush!"

Lifting a knee, the white warrior went rocketing across the field. With only a foot before the tanned skin cyclops, the warrior leapt into the air and shot his right hand out. Coming down hard, the white warrior made a chopping motion and slammed his hand into the tanned skin cyclops. The cyclops buckled under the powerful hand and exploded into millions of pieces, leaving only the purple skinned warrior behind.

Taking the remaining card in his hand and sliding it into a Spell/Trap Slot, Jaden calmly said "I'll throw down a face down and let Jesse pick up where I left off." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 4300)

"Nice moves partner!" Jesse congratulated.

Smiling back, Jaden nodded and somberly replied "Thanks. We need to finish this up and catch up with Illidan and the others. I hope Arya is alright."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll get there in time." Jesse commented. Drawing his card, he added "In the meantime, it's time for me to take it to Kevin! I summon Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1200/400)!"

With a light glow, a purple gem materialized onto the field. With a bright glow, the gem vanished, only to be replaced by a tall pink female cat with a golden crest, that looked like it had wings and a purple gem in the center of it. Off of each of her feet, there were golden like strips as well.

"Next up, I switch my Topaz Tiger and Emerald Tiger into attack mode."

Both the white tiger and the blue turtle suddenly stood up, with the turtle coming out of it's shell at long last. It had blue skin and numerous green gems on it's skin.

"If you hadn't noticed, your monsters are too weak to destroy my Archfiend Soldier." Kevin's feminine voice irritably commented.

Jesse only lightly chuckled at this while the white tiger smirked. "_Why don't you tell our friend about my special ability?_" he commented.

"Sure will." Jesse replied. "You see, when Topaz Tiger battles another monster, he gains 400 attack points (1600 + 400 2000/1000). Topaz Tiger, attack his last line of defense with Incisor Slash!"

Roaring softly, the white tiger gracefully bounded across the field and leapt high into the air. It came flying down hard into the purple skinned warrior, which let a shriek out when the tiger's claws dug into it, making it explode.

"With nothing left, I can attack you in earnest. Emerald Turtle and Amethyst Cat, direct attack!"

Pulling it's body back into it's shell, the blue shelled turtle's shell began spinning while the emerald crystals on it's back glowed to life. A shower of emerald spikes went flying across the field, striking Kevin over and over, making him grunt out in pain. The pink cat in the mean time bounded across the field and leapt into the air gracefully. Coming down fast, she sank her claws into Kevin, making him grunt even more with pain.

Glaring hard at Jesse, the feminine voice of Kevin screamed "THIS FIGHT IS BETWEEN ME AND JADEN!"

"Not so long as I'm around. I won't let you harm Jaden." Jesse vowed. "He's my friend, and I can't allow you to do any harm to him."

"You will pay for your insolence!" Kevin's female voice barked back.

"Maybe, but I aim to stop you and save Kevin also. By the way, you caught a break just now. Whenever Amethyst Cat attacks someone directly, she only does half her original attack points worth of damage. You got luck and only took 600. At any rate, I play my Emerald Turtle's effect, putting him into defense mode. That does it for me." (Jaden 3500, Jesse 4000; Kevin 3000)


	20. Chapter 20: Vengeful Duel, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Saturday, I spent the day with my lovely mate and went to do our usual shopping for the week. Not a whole lot happened on Sunday either, with us going to my cousin's birthday party (he's much younger than me, like under ten). After that, my mate had work and I went to my grandmother's home. Me and grandpa spent time alone while she went to the store, and that was about it with my visit. I had fun as always. Other than that, nothing interesting has happened.**

**Writing wise, me and ardee are cracking down and working on this story once again, lol. We've kind of fell behind on it, but no worries. The chapters posted are going to be disrupted. As for **_**Another**_**, it will continue to get attention off and on.**

**Last time, the duel between Jaden and Jesse vs. Kevin began, with Kevin coming out swinging the first of the Legendary Demons, Raviel. Raviel was soon enough brought down, but still, what other surprises does Kevin have in stored for the duo?**

**Btw, I made a mistake in the previous chapter's ending and discovered it a day later. I had accidentally given Kevin 300 life points at the end. That was supposed to be 3000. I made the correction on Friday, just so everyone knows.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, Jaden used his disadvantage to turn the duel around a bit with Air Neos. Things are starting to look bad for Kevin, but I'm sure he's got a plan up his sleeve. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, yeah, it's hard to kill off the Sacred Beasts, or better known now as the Legendary Demons. True, this is the third time the Demons have made an appearance. Seems like no matter what happens, they return. Can't keep a good set of cards down I guess, lol. True, it's hard to blame Lucifer for giving Kevin these cards, especially since Kevin seems to have a good grasp on them. Again, true, the Legendary Demons are possibly not the only power within his deck. Tim will tell. Glad you liked the chapter. Oh, that OC! Yes, he'll be seen soon enough. After all, he can't stay away for too long. I'll talk to you in PMs if you want more info on him. Yes, it'll be interesting to see what Jaden and Jesse do against Kevin next. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Maybe, but you never know. Glad you like the duel thus far. Never know, if Rainbow Dragon is in Jesse's deck, it may go against the Legendary Demons, but again, you never know. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: LOL! Sorry about the explosion, but it had to happen. Cain? I'll roll with it I suppose. Good to meet the star of **_**A Tortured Duelist**_**. Yep, there was a bit of fusion action, but of course, that ended. Actually, I was thinking once it was fusion summoned, you could bring it back. That is so long as you had fulfilled it's original requirements. Kind of like the Chaos monsters. If you special summon them by their requirements, you're allowed to revive them from the Graveyard or wherever. At least that's what I was told back when I played, lol. Hmm, Yubel the source of Kevin's insanity? Never know, it could be. Heh, he could have made a deal with a devil, but that might not be true either, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all of the reviews. Thank you for them. I enjoyed the feedback this time around. It's always helpful to find out how I did, and what people feel about my story. At any rate, again, I thank all of you.**

**It's time to wrap things up, so till Thursday, enjoy!**

**Chapter 20**

Angrily drawing his card, Kevin's feminine voice yelled "I'll show you for harming me and ruining mine and Jaden's fun! I activate the spell Card of Demise! With it, I can draw till I hold five cards!"

Picking up five new cards, Kevin's face smirked. "You two are definitely going to enjoy this turn. I play three continuous spell cards! The first is Spell Absorption, which allows me to gain 500 life points each time a spell card is put into play. Next, I play Prohibition, allowing me to declare a card name. For the rest of the duel, that card can't be put into play so long as this card is on the field."

Pointing an angry finger at the white warrior, the voice snarled "I choose Elemental Hero Neos! Of course, this doesn't stop him from being already in play, but should he vanish, he can't return. Finally, I activate my last card, Ectoplasmer. During our End Phases, we can sacrifice monsters and deal our opponents damage equal to half the destroyed monster's attack points. Thanks to me playing these two other spells, my life points increase by a 1000 due to Spell Absorption."

"Why play all three spell cards though?" Jesse curiously asked. Looking over at Jaden, he saw the seriousness in his face and a bit of sweat rolling down his face. "What's up Jay?"

"He's going to play another one of them…" Jaden worriedly said.

Widening his eyes at the declaration, Jesse returned his vision to Kevin. "You mean another one of those monsters!?"

"Yeah…" Jaden quietly said.

"He speaks the truth." the feminine voice cut in. "I sacrifice all three of my spell cards in order to special summon another of The Legendary Demons! Rise up now Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000)!"

Instantly, the three spell cards vanished from the field in a flash of lightning. Striking the ground with a large clap of thunder was a huge bolt of yellow lightning. Escaping the lightning slowly was a large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. The creature roared loudly, sending out several shockwaves.

"_Jesse, I think we're in trouble!_" the blue turtle worriedly said from it's shell.

Staring at his monsters and then back up at the large yellow creature, Jesse bit his lower lip and replied "Try not to worry guys. We can win. Just stay strong!"

"Your pathetic creatures can't even begin to hope to fight my Legendary Demons." Kevin's feminine voice bragged. "They're no match for the fierceness of them."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Kevin suddenly opened them and pointed an angry finger at the white skinned warrior. "Hamon, obliterate Neos with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Roaring loudly, the large yellow creature opened it's jaws and shot out a stream of blue lightning energy straight for the white warrior. The stream hit hard, making the warrior scream out in pain before bursting into millions of pixels. Pushing past the remains of the warrior, the blast struck Jaden, making him cry out in pain and hunch over.

"And if you thought that was bad Jaden, wait till Hamon's effect deals you an additional 1000 points of damage. In fact, why wait!" Kevin's feminine voice cackled.

Shooting straight out of the sky, a bolt of white lightning struck Jaden, making him scream out once more and fall to his knees.

"Jay!" Jesse screamed out with worry visibly in his voice.

Clenching his right fist, Jaden quickly forced himself up and pointed at his face down card, yelling out "I'm not beat yet! I play my trap, Neospacia Road! Whenever Neos is destroyed, your Battle Phase is automatically ended, and then I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck!"

Watching Jaden pick up a card, Kevin's female voice icily said "I see you haven't learned to give up yet, have you Jaden? It's a shame you can't remember me, Jaden. If you did, you'd remember you swore to protect me!"

Looking at Kevin with focused eyes, Jaden tried hard to focus in on the voice that was talking to him. "_I can't remember that voice, but something is telling me I know it. But from where!? And who could it be!?_"

Seeing Jaden staring at Kevin, Alexis felt her heart ache for Jaden. "_Whoever that is that's controlling Kevin says Jaden knew him, or so it says. But Jaden has no clue who they are. Does that mean this person is lying? Or could he have really promised to protect them, but somehow forgot?_"

Shaking her head, she looked fiercely at Jaden. "_No, Jaden would never forget a promise like that. He'd never make any kind of promise that he wouldn't mean. Whatever this thing inside Kevin is, it's lying about the promise, I know it. Go and take them down Jaden!_"

Sighing slightly, Kevin's female voice calmly said "You will remember Jaden, even if I must destroy you to do it. I set one card face down and end my turn." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 4000)

Picking up a new card, Jaden slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk and said "I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (900/300) in defense."

Appearing onto the field was a light brown mole creature with shoulder pads that looked like half of a drill. The mole quickly sank into a kneeling position and crossed it's arms.

"To end, I'll throw down a face down. That's all for now." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 4000)

Drawing a new card, Jesse quickly looked up and said "I first switch my Topaz Tiger to defense."

Moving into a sitting position, the white and black stripped tiger softly growled while a horizontal card image formed underneath of it.

"Next, I'll activate Amethyst Cat's special effect. By halving her attack points, I can direct attack you (1200 / 2 600/400)." Pointing towards Kevin, Jesse yelled "Go sink you fangs into her girl!"

"_Gladly!_" the pink cat growled while bounding across the field. A moment later, she was before Kevin and slashed him across the chest with both paws, leaving scratch marks.

Smirking while his pink cat returned, Jesse calmly said "Turtle, why don't you help out Amethyst Cat with your special effect."

"_Sure thing Jesse!_" the turtle replied. Immediately, the pink cat sat her rump onto the ground while a horizontal card image formed under her.

Seeing Kevin's frustrated look, Jesse slowly said "I just activated Emerald Turtle's special ability, which has one monster that attacked this turn switch to defense. That means you can't harm my cat, so tough luck. To end, I'll place a face down card. I'm done for now, so your go Kevin." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 3400)

Lowly growling, Kevin's feminine voice yelled out "I am not here for your amusement!"

Angrily, he snapped a card off the top of his deck and turned it towards the pair, snarling "I play Graceful Charity! With it, I draw three new cards and toss out two when I'm done!"

Snapping off three cards, Kevin glared at them, but his expression turned to one of a smirk. Picking two, he quietly placed them into his Graveyard Slot, which quickly sucked the cards in.

"I am going to enjoy this." the feminine voice commented. Pointing at the face down card, the female voice said "I activate my trap card, Destruction of Destiny! With this trap, I'm allowed to take the top three cards on my deck and send them to my Graveyard. For each spell or trap I discard, I lose 1000 life points."

"But why take that kind of risk?" Jesse questioned with unease in his eyes.

Smirking, the feminine voice remarked "You'll see. Here I go!"

Snapping off three cards, Kevin showed the three cards, which earned a small gasp of shock from Jaden. "One of them is Uria, Lord of Searing Flames, which is a monster. The other two are trap cards, meaning I lose 2000 life points." the female voice explained.

Placing all three cards into his Graveyard, Kevin smirked while his life point meter went down. "Now that I've made that move, it's time I made this one! I sacrifice Hamon to summon Dark Summons God (0/0)!"

Vanishing from the field was the dull golden creature, but taking it's place was a new creature. Slowly materializing was a strange looking creature that had large red wings with grey in them, a red kilt wrapped around it's waist that stretched to the ground, a mostly dull black looking skin, long arms, a strange head with a pair of horns that stretched up and down, and a pair of thick shoulder pads.

Looking at the creature, Jesse scratched his head and blurted out "Why bother getting rid of Hamon for that thing?"

Glancing over at Jaden for some help, he saw Jaden was staring intently at the creature before them with a clenched jaw. Sweat was trickling down the side of his face, showing the true concern he had.

"Jay?" Jesse questioned.

Smirking at the look of pure fear and terror in Jaden's eyes, Kevin's feminine voice smugly said "You know what is coming, don't you Jaden? It is the one thing you've been dreading all duel long. I activate Dark Summon God's special ability! By sacrificing it, I can now resurrect all three of my Legendary Demons!"

Vanishing from the field, the grey creature became a flash of golden light that filled Kevin's Graveyard Slot.

"No way!" Jesse shouted out with a look of disbelief.

Sneering, Kevin held his hand over his Graveyard Slot while it still glowed. One by one, three monster cards slid out. Taking all three in hand, he slapped them all one by one to his Duel Disk. In a loud yell, the feminine voice cried out "Rise up my mighty Legendary Demons! I summon thee, Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000); Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000); and finally, Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (?/?)!"

Rising up from the ground from a thick purple fog once more was the large blue and purple creature, who let out a loud roar, making the arena itself shake.

Next to rise up was the large dull yellow creature, which let out a terrifying roar, shaking the arena once again.

The final creature soon began to appear from within a tower of flames. Out of the flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the ground shake from the power of it.

"Witness the power of all three of my Legendary Demons!" the female voice cried out loud with maniacal laughter filling the air.

Staring up at the three, Jaden felt more sweat slide down the side of his face. "This is bad, very bad!" he finally managed to choke out.

Looking at the three creatures with a look of shock, Jesse clenched his jaw and hardened his eyes. "They maybe tough, but no way will we lose!" he fiercely declared.

Chuckling darkly, the feminine voice smoothly said "Your bravery is commendable, but you will fall before my Legendary Demons. No one can defeat them."

"I'm not one person though, right Jay?" Jesse called out with a smile. Glancing at Jesse, Jaden finally calmed down, and smiled.

"You're right Jesse. Together we'll beat The Legendary Demons!" Jaden victoriously replied.

Snorting, the feminine voice replied with annoyance "I doubt that. Do as you like, but you'll fail. And in the meantime, I believe it's time to show you the true power of Uria. His points are about to be determined. For every continuous trap in my Graveyard, he gains 1000 points. Right now, I have a grand total of four, meaning he gains 4000 points (1000 4 4000/1000 4 4000)!"

Roaring loudly, the mighty red dragon turned a dark glare towards all the monsters on Jaden and Jesse's field, seemingly challenging them all to dare stand against it.

"And next, I play Uria's effect. I'm allowed to destroy one face down card. I choose your face down Jaden!" Kevin's feminine voice declared while pointing at his face down card.

Roaring loudly, the red dragon shot out sound waves that made the face down card suddenly flip up and shatter.

Chuckling, Jaden smirked and said "You just triggered my face down trap, Dummy Marker! When it's destroyed and sent to my Graveyard, I get to draw one card from my deck."

Watching Jaden pick up a card, Kevin shrugged and smirked. "You may draw as many cards as you like, but it won't help." the feminine voice mused. "Unfortunately, due that I summoned my Legendary Demons using Dark Summons God's effect, they can't attack. I must hence end my turn." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 1400)

"Come on…" Hasselberry mumbled anxiously.

Staring intently at Jaden, Alexis quietly said "He'll do it. I know it."

"He and Jesse had better do something. At this rate, those Sacred Beasts will devour those two." Chazz muttered irritably.

"My calculations suggest that Jaden and Jesse aren't done, but still, neither clearly have any cards that can conquer the Sacred Beasts easily." Bastion admitted.

"Those two should quit while they're ahead." Adrian admonished.

Throwing a sharp glare at him, Alexis fired back "They can win, I know it! Jaden has yet to even begin to wail into Kevin."

"That might be so, but against 4000 attack point monsters, Jaden may need something better than his Neos." Axel countered. "Same goes for Jesse. Neither can obviously outmuscle those Sacred Beasts."

"I don't know about that mate." Jim interjected. "Those two have a lot of cards left to play, so I'm not counting them out just yet."

Remaining quiet, Zane stared intently at Kevin, his eyes never leaving him. "_What is this feeling, that Kevin is being controlled? But by who, or more like what? Possibly this thing knows where Syrus is..._"

Back on the field, Jaden drew his card and smirked. "Sweetness, I summon Neo-Spacian Glow Moss (300/900)!"

A small light blue glow formed on the field. From the glow came a creature with a light blue glow that had a circular head and slender body.

Snickering, Kevin's feminine voice smoothly said "Jaden, you are truly a fool. By summoning a monster, Raviel's effect activates. I can now special summon to my field a Phantasm Token (1000/1000) in defense."

Slowly materializing onto the field was a small blue and purple creature that looked like a miniature version of the larger blue and purple creature.

Shrugging, Jaden slightly smirked and replied "It's all cool. Next up, I play a sweet spell known as Spacia Gift! This card allows me to draw cards equal to the number of Neo-Spacian's on my field. Right now, I have three, so I get three new cards!"

Snapping off three cards, Jaden carefully placed them in his left hand and pointed towards the glowing creature. "Glow Moss, go attack his Phantasm Token now!"

Leaping into the air, the light blue glowing creature held his right hand out while a spear of white energy formed. Suddenly, in front of the light blue creature, three spheres formed, with one being green, another red, and finally a yellow one. The three suddenly began glowing randomly, each seemingly signifying something.

"Whenever Glow Moss attacks, his effect kicks in. Thanks to his effect, you flip the top card on your deck. Depending on what card is flipped is what Glow Moss's effect is." Jaden explained.

Seemingly unaffected, Kevin drew his next card and showed it to be a spell card. Smiling great big, Jaden quickly said "Whenever you draw a spell card, Glow Moss can direct attack, so go get him buddy!"

Pulling the spear back, the glowing creature took aim and threw it straight at Kevin, who winced lightly when the spear struck him in the shoulder.

"To end, I'll throw down two face downs." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 1100)

"Nice moves partner!" Jesse congratulated.

Smiling, Jaden replied "Thanks Jesse. Now go take it to Kevin!"

Drawing his card, Jesse called back "Sure will! I switch my Amethyst Cat back into attack mode first. Now I'll cut her attack points in half, and direct attack!"

Lowly growling, the pink cat bounded across the field and quickly made her way to Kevin. In two simple slashes, Kevin fell to one knee and grunted out.

"Now then, I use my Emerald Turtle's effect to switch Amethyst Cat back to defense. Finally, I'll place a face down card. I think that's enough damage for one turn." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 4000; Kevin 500)

Softly snarling, Kevin drew his card and glared at Jesse and Jaden. In a loud growl, the feminine voice yelled "I activate the spell Trade-In! By discarding a level eight monster, I can draw two new cards. I toss out my Grinder Golem."

Placing the monster card into his Graveyard Slot, Kevin sneered with it being sucked in and then picked up two new cards.

"Jaden, I would end our little fight and take you away now, but I have grown to hate this friend of yours." Kevin's female voice stated with venom dripping in it. "I think it's time he is destroyed, once and for all. Uria, destroy his pathetic Amethyst Cat with Hyper Blaze!"

"Hold on there! Who said you'd get to my Amethyst Cat just yet?" Jesse cockily questioned. "I activate my trap, G – Force! Now I can select a Crystal Beast from my hand and summon it to the field."

Selecting one of the two cards in his hand, he slapped it onto his Duel Disk, calling out "I pick my Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)!"

Materializing instantly onto the field was a round oval amber colored jewel. It glowed brilliantly for a moment and vanished, giving way to the image of a dark grey mammoth creature with four large tusks, a trunk, an amber colored round jewel in his forehead, and a grey mane on his head.

"Now thanks to G – Force, you're forced to attack him, but that's not all that I have for you! I'm playing another trap, my Rainbow Life! By discarding a card, the damage I'd take from this shot gets added to my life points instead."

Watching Jesse placing his card into his Graveyard Slot, Kevin growled lowly. In a ferocious snarl, the feminine voice yelled "Destroy that pathetic mammoth with Hyper Blaze now, Uria!"

Roaring loudly, the red snake like dragon opened it's jaws and fired a stream of intensely hot flames at the mammoth. The blast hit the mammoth head on, who sounded off it's trunk will roasting.

"_I'll be back!_" the mammoth cried out before incinerating. Once the mammoth was gone, a glowing round amber colored crystal formed beside of the blue crystal.

Angrily pointing at the pink cat, Kevin's feminine voice yelled "I may have giving you a few points, but I'll make sure to get rid of your monsters for your trouble! Raviel, destroy his pathetic Amethyst Cat with Shimmering Claw!"

With glowing claws, the large blue and purple creature took a step forward and pulled back it's large arm. In a single sweeping motion, it sent it's claws racing straight for the weaker pink cat.

"I'm not through yet, for I play my last trap, Last Resort! Thanks to this little trap, I can take a specific field spell from my deck and put it into play. So, I activate this, my Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!" Jesse cried out.

Sifting through his deck, Jesse finally found the card he wanted and placed his deck back into it's slot. Holding his Duel Disk vertical, he tapped the end of it, making a slot shoot out. Carefully, he placed the card he had pulled out of his deck into it, making the slot close and his Duel Disk glow with rainbow colored energy. Without warning, the field began transforming, with a blue sky forming above the pair with a rainbow in it. The ground changed as well to a stone floor with an ancient coliseum surrounding them.

"Welcome to Rome, home of my Crystal Beasts!" Jesse exclaimed.

Glaring at the field, Kevin's feminine voice shouted out "No matter, your pathetic cat is gone!"

With that being said, the large blue and purple creature's attack connected, slashing the pink cat in half and causing a small explosion. Jesse shielded his face from the explosion, but remained smiling. A moment later, in front of Jesse, a beat up violet colored crystal appeared.

"I'll wipe that grin off yet!" Kevin's female voice shouted. Angrily pointing at the remaining yellow creature, the voice yelled "Tear his pathetic tiger apart with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dull yellow creature took aim and fired a stream of blue colored lightning energy at the white and black striped tiger. The tiger softly growled, but was quickly silenced when the stream hit it. A large explosion ensured, sending smoke and debris into the air. Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing that the tiger was gone, but in front of Jesse was a yellow crystal.

"And now, you take 1000 points of damage thanks to Hamon's special ability! Light up his world!"

Roaring loudly, the dull golden creature shot several streams of lightning into the sky. A moment later, they came slamming out of the sky into Jesse, making him cry out in pain. The lightning soon subsided, revealing a slightly trembling Jesse, who quickly calmed himself and smirked.

Grunting loudly, Kevin jammed two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these cards and end!" (Jaden 1000, Jesse 5300; Kevin 500)

"Sweet move there Jesse!" Jaden congratulated.

Smiling shyly, Jesse replied "Thanks partner. Now it's up to you."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan!" Jaden remarked with a smile. Quickly drawing his card, he turned it towards Kevin, saying "I activate Pot of Greed, meaning two cards for me!"

Picking up two cards quickly, Jaden smiled even move. "Totally sweet! I play the spell Silent Doom! With it, I can special summon from my Graveyard a monster in defense, and who better to pick than Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Emerging onto the field once more was the white skinned warrior with a slicked back horn. He quickly took a kneeling position once on the field and crossed his arms.

"Next up, I'm summoning my Neo-Spacian Dark Panther (1000/500)!"

Quickly materializing onto the field was a black panther with a black cape attached around his neck with a golden like collar. Glaring at the three creatures on Kevin's field, the cat softly growled.

"Thank you Jaden for playing Raviel's special ability. Since you just summoned a monster, I can now special summon another Phantasm Token (1000/1000)!" Kevin's feminine voice smugly commented.

Appearing beside the weaker looking purple and blue creature that had it's arms crossed was an exact duplicate.

"It's all good." Jaden smartly replied. "Time for some Contact Fusion! Neos, Dark Panther, and Glow Moss, team up to create…"

Leaping into the air, the three monsters flew with the white warrior in the middle, the black panther to his right, and the light blue glowing alien creature on the warrior's left. Slowly, the three slid together, creating a blinding white light. Slipping from the light slowly was a new creature. The new creature was mostly white with black forming on most of it's lower body and light green lights gleaming from traces on his body. The new warrior had a large wing span that had white outlines and red skin on the inside of the wings. The warrior's hands had large white claws that appeared rather sharp.

"… my Elemental Hero Chaos Neos (3000/2500)! Time for you to have to face off with my own Chaos monster!" Jaden declared.

"Wow, a triple tag team fusion! Nice move Jay!" Jesse complimented.

Smiling, Jaden nodded in reply and watched the reaction on Kevin's face. He only stared at the creature with disdain in his eyes, but behind them, something seemed to stir.

After a moment of seeing he wouldn't get any kind of reaction, Jaden spoke up once more. "Now for Chaos Neos's special ability! Just watch this!"

Appearing before the black and white warrior suddenly were three orbs, with each flashing back and forth between white and black.

Raising an eyebrow, Kevin's feminine voice asked "What are those?"

"They're going to be used to determine Chaos Neos's ability! You see, Chaos Neos had three effects, but they can only be activated pending on the number of white orbs I get. So, let's see what he does!" Jaden exclaimed.

The white and black orbs suddenly began glowing brightly. After a moment, the three stopped glowing so brightly. The first two were still filled with a white color, but the last one was black.

"Sweetness! Since I have two white orbs, Chaos Neos can negate the effects of all your monsters for this turn alone!" Jaden explained.

"WHAT!?" Kevin's female voice howled.

Smirking, Jaden replied "Watch this! Chaos Neos, negate the special abilities of those Demons!"

Glowing brightly with a light green aura, the black and white warrior turned a clawed hand towards the three powerful creatures. Each glowed with a soft light green aura, making the three powerful creatures grunt out in pain.

"Chaos Neos, let's end this duel by taking out Uria with Chaos Swipes!"

Rushing forward, the black and white warrior sailed across the field and pulled back it's right hand, with it's claws glowing with a light green aura.

Before the strike could hit, Kevin pointed at one face down card, with the female voice yelling out "I'm not about to lose this duel yet! I play my trap, Spirit Barrier! So long as I have a monster on my field, I take zero Battle Damage!"

The white and black warrior immediately dug it's claws into the red dragon's chest, making the dragon howl loudly before exploding. A golden barrier instantly formed around Kevin, protecting him from the explosion's damage.

Softly growling, Jaden calmed and slightly smirked. Taking the remaining card in his hand, he slid it into his Spell/Trap Slot. "Nice counter there Kevin, but I'm not finished with my turn yet. I equip the spell Instant Neospace to Chaos Neos. This handy spell keeps him from having to return to my Fusion Deck during my End Phase. It has a secondary effect too, but that's unimportant right now. Anyways, I'm done for now, so back to you Jesse." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 5300; Kevin 500)

"Nice moves Jay." Jesse commented with a smile.

Smiling back, Jaden replied "Thanks Jesse. Now go on and get him!"

"Will do." Jesse responded with a small smile while picking up a card. Pointing at his field spell, Jesse calmly said "Since I have four Crystal Beasts in my Spell/Trap Zone, I can activate one of Rainbow Ruins effects! I get to draw one extra card."

Drawing a new card quietly, Jesse glanced at his hand. Smiling, he said "I activate the spell Rare Value, which gives me more bling for my buck. See, while I have two or more Crystal Beasts in my Spell/Trap Zones, you get to pick one and send it to the Graveyard. I'm then allowed to draw two more cards. So, which of my Crystal Beasts will it be, Kevin?"

Glaring at Jesse, Kevin glanced at the four crystals and finally pointed at the violet colored one. Nodding, Jesse pulled the card out of the slot it sat in and quietly placed it into his Graveyard Slot. Once the card was sucked in, he picked up two more cards.

"Thank you for that move there Kevin. I now summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1800/1200) in defense!"

Forming on the field was a round blue colored gem. Glowing brightly, the gem vanished and was replaced by a white horse with a white mane, powerful wings that had golden feathers, a blue gem horn on it's forehead, and blue round gems on the tips of each wing.

Smirking, Kevin's female voice called out "Don't forget, each time you summon a monster, I get another Phantasm Token (1000/1000), which I put into defense."

Materializing onto the field beside of the other two small blue and purple creatures was yet another one.

Shrugging, Jesse decided to continue on. "Check out Pegasus's special ability! Once he's summoned, I can bring back one Crystal Beast from my Graveyard and place it into my Spell/Trap Slot, so come on back Amethyst Cat!"

Glowing to life, Jesse's Graveyard Slot slowly pushed a monster card out. Taking it up in his hand, he quietly slid it into an empty slot and smiled when the violet colored gem returned to the field.

"Now it's time! Since I have six Crystal Beasts on my field and one in my Graveyard, I can play the monster that I've been waiting forever to summon!" Jesse exclaimed.

Glancing over at his friend, Jaden asked "You mean you have the card now!? But when and where did you get it!?"

Smiling, Jesse replied "Pegasus gave it to me before the duel. Pretty neat, heh?"

"Very sweet! Go show him what you got!" Jaden exclaimed.

Listening to the two excited duelists, Chazz muttered "What are those two losers talking about?"

"Sounds like Jesse just drew some powerful card, but what could it be? I mean, all he has is his Crystal Beasts." Hasselberry commented.

Thinking for a moment, Bastion's eyes suddenly widened when he realized what Jesse could be talking about. "Is it possible he has the card he was looking for!?"

Frowning, Alexis asked "What card are you talking about Bastion?"

Glancing at her, Bastion replied "The only card that Jesse has talked about nonstop while with Jaden. The one and only card that can harness the power of his Crystal Beasts!"

Gasping, Alexis asked "You mean he could have it!?"

"He could…" Bastion tightly commented.

On the field, staring at Jesse and Jaden's friendly conversation, Kevin's feminine voice growled out "What are you waiting for! Let's hurry this along so I can crush you!"

Smirking, Jesse replied "You'll regret making that comment. It's time I showed you the true power of the Crystal Beasts! You see, with all seven now in play or in my Graveyard, I can summon the most feared creature in Duel Monsters!"

Slapping the card to his Duel Disk, Jesse cried out "I summon the almighty Rainbow Dragon (4000/0)!"

Rainbow energy suddenly shot out from where the card laid on Jesse's Duel Disk, making Kevin's eyes widen a fraction. Glowing to life, all four crystals on Jesse's field shot a beam up into the sky, along with the unicorn and turtle. A red beam suddenly shot out from Jesse's Graveyard Slot, joining the other six multicolored beams. The seven swirled together, forming a blinding white light.

Descending from the white light slowly was a powerful white scaled dragon that had a long snake like body, huge white feather wings on the top part, a sharp spike sticking out the top of it's head and off the back of it's head, a pair of wings off the sides of it's head, and golden like pronged wings that didn't move. On the sides of the top part of the dragon were seven jewels, on for each color of the other creatures.

The dragon looked over at the two remaining large creatures and let out a massive roar, making each lightly shutter. The two quickly recovered and let out low growls themselves, but the white pristine dragon was unaffected.

Staring at the dragon with a big goofy grin, Jaden excitedly said "Awesome card Jesse!"

"Sure is pal! It was well worth the wait!" Jesse cheerily replied.

Hasselberry, Alexis, Bastion, Chazz, Zane, Adrian, Axel, and Jim all gasped in shock at the mighty white dragon above the field. Each was unable to tear away their stares at the dragon while it seemingly awaited the demonic creatures to do something.

"That thing is what Jesse was waiting for!" Jim exclaimed with surprise in his voice. Smiling, he added "Cranky, that is one heck of a monster."

"I'll say Jim. With 4000 attack points, that thing is on par with those demons of Kevin's." Axel commented.

Staring at the powerful white dragon, Bastion excitedly said "That thing is legendary from what I remember! No one has ever seen the Rainbow Dragon before, and now Jesse has it in his deck! Simply remarkable!"

"I'll say…" Alexis mumbled with a small smile.

Back in the dueling ring, Jesse pointed at one of the smaller blue and purple creatures. "I think it's time for a demonstration. Rainbow Dragon, destroy that Phantasm Token with Rainbow Refraction!"

Letting out a massive roar, the white dragon opened it's jaws and took aim at the weaker blue and purple creature. Rainbow colored energy immediate licked the tip of the dragon's jaws, seemingly waiting for the perfect moment to be released. At long last, the dragon shot a beam of rainbow energy straight at the weaker creature. The small blue and purple creature howled in pain before shattering, leaving nothing behind but smoke.

Smiling great big, Jesse calmly said "I end my move with a face down card. Let's see what you got Kevin." (Jaden 1000, Jesse 5300; Kevin 500)


	21. Chapter 21: Vengence and Sadness

**Hey again everyone! Well, not much new this week. Heh, we had lots of rain the last two days, with tornado watches and flood watches in effect. It wasn't too bad though. Lots of rain, but that was about it. Other than that, nothing really that new going on in real life.**

**Writing wise, things are progressing, so that's about all I have to say on it, lol.**

**Last time, Jaden and Jesse continued their duel against Kevin, who revealed he had control of all three Legendary Demons. To counteract this, Jaden brought out Chaos Neos, and Jesse summoned his long sought after Rainbow Dragon. With the pair seemingly taking control of the duel, is this the end of Kevin, or only the beginning for whatever is controlling him?**

**Moving along, it's Review Time!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, Rainbow Dragon is fighting off two Legendary Demons. The real fight looks like it's just beginning, but who'll win, no one knows. Well, other than me as always, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: LOL! Too bad about not being able to think well. Yep, Rainbow Dragon made it's grand entrance at long last and flexed it's muscles. It might be just you for Stardust Dragon, lol. Hmm, Yubel a part of Kevin? Never know, could be, or it could be something else entirely different. It'll be made clear this chapter, at long last. Lol, nice attack name. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yep, you were right, Pegasus gave Jesse the Rainbow Dragon card. Heh, you could be right about Yubel possessing Kevin, but you never know. She may not even be in this story… or she could be… I know, quit being so mysterious! Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you all for the three I received. They were helpful and nice to read. To anyone who hasn't reviewed, but has comments, questions, suggestions, etc, feel free to review or PM me. I'll try and answer anything that is sent, minus stuff that gives away the plot, lol.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. I'm out. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 21**

Staring at the white dragon, Kevin sneered and in his feminine voice confidently declared "Your pathetic dragon won't win you this duel!"

"We'll see." Jesse remarked. "Why don't you quit hiding behind Kevin's face and show us who you really are!?"

Smirking, Kevin's female voice asked "You want to know what I truly look like, eh?"

"We do." Jaden replied. "If you're someone I know, then prove it. Thus far, I don't even recognize your voice or anything, so prove who you are!"

Once more smirking, Kevin closed his eyes and the female voice said "Very well, if I must show you Jaden, I will."

Slowly, Kevin's body began to glow with a dark aura. Without warning, Kevin fell to the ground, but in the wake of where he fell, an orange energy in the form of a human like creature stood. Glaring at the fallen form of Kevin, the form pointed at him with it's finger and slid his body away across the dueling ring to the edge.

Seeing Kevin had been freed, the rest of the gang watching rushed to his side and dragged him away from the dueling ring. Alexis carefully examined him for a moment and checked his vitals, finding that he was still alive.

"He's alive, but worn out." she informed.

The group all returned their view to the dueling ring, where the orange form stood completely still. After a moment, the form began to glow brightly with a darker orange aura. Slowly, the orange energy began to recede, beginning at the form's feet. The aura receded upwards, revealing first a pair of legs, with the right being covered in sickly dark pink skin, the left in what looked like black clothing. At the form's right upper thigh, the same black clothing that was on the left leg appeared and ran up to the form's hips. The clothing formed a V off of the hips, leaving a great deal of skin exposed. Continuing to move upwards, the failing aura revealed more sickly pink skin from the creature's hips, along with it's stomach. Just above the creature's midsection, the black material formed once more, with a strip going across it's left rib cage, but only a strip. On the right side, the material formed covering for what looked like a breast, while the left side remained flat. The material snaked over the creature's right shoulder and formed two spikes on it's shoulder, while two spikes formed on it's left one. The material ended on the creature's right arm at it's elbow with two spikes, but it's arm was clawed and had brown skin on the top half of it's arm. On the left arm, much scalier brown skin formed with claws at the end. Moving to the creature's back, the aura revealed a pair of bat like black wings with a dark shade of purple inner part of it's wings. Reaching past it's neck, the aura vanished from the creature's head, revealing a feminine face with light blue lips, white spiky hair on the right side of it's head, with purple spiky scales on the left side. The creature's left eye was aqua colored, while the left was orange. In the center of it's forehead was a single eye that had a yellow cornea with a red iris. On the creature's left hand, a strange Duel Disk, looking like it was made of flesh, appeared with the two monster cards still on it and the two cards in it's Spell/Trap Slots. On the life point meter, a yellow eye symbol appeared.

Smirking at the pair, the female demon asked "Do you remember me now Jaden?"

Staring wide eyed at the demoness before him, Jaden felt sweat running down the side of his face. Weakly, he said "It can't be… Is that really you Yubel?"

"Ah, so you do remember me now, don't you Jaden?" Yubel asked with a victorious sneer.

Glancing back between Jaden and Yubel rapidly, Jesse asked "You know that thing Jaden?"

"Yeah… But it's been almost twelve years since I've seen her." Jaden unsteadily answered. "I… I don't understand, why are you back, Yubel?"

Frowning, Yubel looked downwards with a scowl. "You sent me away, and for what Jaden!?" she asked accusingly.

Looking away, Jaden felt tears in the corner of his eyes, but held them back. Glancing back up, he sadly whispered "Because you were a threat to everyone I knew."

"I was protecting you! You had no right to send me away!" Yubel angrily snapped. "Do you know how it felt, being away from you!? Not knowing if I'd ever see you again!?"

Hiding his eyes below his bangs, Jaden quietly replied "I did…" Slightly looking up at her, he added "But you were a danger to not only my friends, but everyone else around me. If I hadn't of done what I did…"

"You got rid of me like I was nothing." Yubel ground out with anger. "I was protecting you, and you sent me away."

Feeling his heart ache, Jaden bit his lower lip. "I just wanted you to learn from Neos, that was all…"

"Neos!?" Yubel questioned harshly. She burst out loud laughing, pointing at the black and white warrior on the field. "That fool knew nothing to begin with! Why think I'd learn something from him!?"

Clenching his right fist, Jaden quietly replied "He was to help you, and teach you all he knew about helping others. You only wanted to hurt others…"

"Nonsense! I only wanted to protect you! Do you not even remember the promise you made me!?" Yubel fiercely asked.

Thinking for a moment, Jaden finally shook his head, earning him a low growl from the demoness. Clutching her chest, she closed her eyes. Looking up at Jaden, angry tears slid down her cheeks while she yelled "You swore to me that you'd only love me and belong to me alone! You swore it, and then you evilly broke your promise!"

Shocked at Yubel's words, Jaden closed his eyes and began to search his mind for any hint to him making that promise to her. After a few moments, he opened them and looked sorrowfully at her. Voice full of emotion, he slowly said "I still don't remember what you're talking about Yubel. I never made that promise. If I had, I'd remember."

"YOU LIAR!" Yubel accused. "YOU'RE LYING! WHY WON'T YOU ACCEPT THAT I'M RIGHT!"

In a low, remorseful tone, Jaden replied "Because I just don't remember it, and can't accept that I'd make a promise like that without any memory of it."

"Jaden…" Alexis lowly whispered while staring at Jaden. "_That thing can't be right, can it? No, Jaden would never make a promise like that and never remember it. He would never be that cold hearted._"

Clenching her fist tightly till a small trickle of blood dropped to the ground, Yubel uttered "Fine then. If you refuse to remember, then I'll force you to!"

Snapping the top card of her deck off, Yubel glared at it and then pointed at her face down card. "I reveal the trap Undying Class. This allows me to sacrifice the two remaining Phantasm Tokens in order to revive my Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (4000/4000)!"

Without warning, a tower of flames shot up out of the ground. Rising from the flames was the red snake like dragon, which roared loudly.

"Next, I activate Uria's special ability, allowing him to destroy one face down spell or trap on the field. I choose the one on the right on your field Jaden!"

Opening it's jaws, the red dragon let out another massive roar, sending sound waves straight at the face down card. The card instantly flipped up, revealing a trap and then shattering.

"NO! My Negate Attack!" Jaden exclaimed with worry.

Smirking, Yubel smoothly said "I wouldn't worry about it Jaden. After all, once I play this next card, you are mine. It is time for me to summon the monster that will decide your fate Jaden! I activate the spell Death by Dimensional Fusion! This card is rather simple in how it works. I remove from play all three of my Legendary Demons now, so be gone, and reveal your fusion form, the almighty Armityle the Chaos Phantom (0/0)!"

Lifting up into the air, one by one, the three large creatures were pulled into the sky towards a green shimmering portal. The three slowly slid into the portal, with all three of them vanishing completely. The portal slightly shimmered upon this and suddenly began glowing even brighter. Descending slowly from the portal was a creature with yellow nearly see through wings like the large dull yellow creature had had, a set of blue and yellow horns, large red shoulder pads with spikes sticking out, an arm that had the red dragon like creature on it, the other arm corresponding to the large blue and purple creatures, and the rest of the body appeared to be a blend of the three creatures combined into one. Upon landing onto the field, the new creature let out a horrendous roar, shaking the entire island and sending debris falling within the dueling arena.

Staring at the combo creature, Jaden felt his knees give out and he fell onto them and his hands. Squeezing his eyes shut, he felt despair flowing throughout his mind.

"_There is no way to win now! If it was my turn and I could activate Chaos Neos's second special ability, I'd be safe, but with it being Yubel's turn, there is no way to win! I'm about to fail in defeating her... What about Jesse? What will happen to him, and the others? What about Alexis?_"

Opening his eyes, he weakly sat back onto one knee and moved the other leg into a better position so he could stand. "Yubel, I want you to leave the others out of this. This promise, whatever it is, isn't worth hurting my friends. Please, just let them go." Jaden weakly pleaded.

Looking at Jaden, Yubel sneered and replied "No. They will suffer horrible fates, much like your own, my dearest Jaden. I must punish them for trying to take you away from me."

"But they did nothing!" Jaden argued.

"It makes no difference to me." Yubel flatly remarked. "They tried to come between us, and thus I must destroy them all."

"You two haven't forgotten about me here, now have you?" Jesse interjected, earning him attention from the pair. "I don't know what kind of crazy thinking is going through your head Yubel, but if Jaden made a promise like you proclaim he did, he'd remember it, without a doubt. Jaden is just that kind of person. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. I know you're angry, but let it go."

Flashing a smile towards Jaden, Jesse added "Besides, Jaden is my friend, and I won't let you harm him any longer! Like I said earlier, you'll have to go through me to get to him!"

Glaring daggers at Jesse, Yubel's jaw clenched while she ground her fangs into her other teeth. "You want to protect Jaden, eh?" she ground out. "Then we shall see how willing you are to protect him! I activate Armityle's special ability! During my turn alone, his attack points rise to 10000 (10000/0)!"

Letting out a massive roar, the entire dueling arena shook while pieces of the arena shuttered and fell to the ground. The others quickly realized the arena maybe no longer safe to remain in and quickly gathered Kevin up and took refuge in the mouth of the tunnel where duelists would enter the arena.

"You will lose this turn Jaden. Can you feel the fear yet?" Yubel purred out.

Jaden couldn't even bring himself to look at Yubel upon her declaration. Seeing he couldn't, Jesse turned towards Jaden and called out "Jay, don't give up! You're stronger than that! Remember what you told me? A duel isn't over till the last card is played! And last I checked, we each had a few cards to play!"

Feeling a small bit of strength return to him, Jaden lightly nodded and stood back up and glanced at Jesse with a small smile. "Thanks Jesse…" he mumbled.

"No problem partner. That's what I'm here for, to help you and for you to help me! We're a team, no matter what! And I think it's time we showed Yubel what teamwork is all about!" Jesse declared.

Sadly nodding, Jaden returned his gaze towards Yubel, who scowled at him. "Yubel, I'm sorry for this, but you're too dangerous. We… we have to stop you no matter what."

"So, that's how it is, eh Jaden?" Yubel growled. With a fierce yell, she pointed at the black and white warrior and screamed "Armityle, send his Chaos Neos to Hell so I can have my beloved Jaden back!"

Letting out a massive roar once more, the combination creature's jaws opened, exposing a dark orange energy beginning to build up in it's mouth. The energy continued to build larger and larger, and seemed as if it would be larger than the creature's entire head. In an earth shattering blast, the combo creature finally released a stream of dark orange energy straight for the black and white warrior, who stared at it coming towards it.

Lowering his head, Jaden fell to one knee once more. "_I... I failed you, Illidan. I tried, I really tried, but I couldn't stop Yubel. Now she's free to run amuck. I'm truly sorry._"

"I play my face down card!" a voice called out, waking Jaden from his thoughts. Glancing over at Jesse, he saw that the green haired young man's face down card was rising up. "It's time I prove that I am going to protect Jaden no matter what you say or do Yubel, and here is my proof! I'm activating my spell Prism Wall."

Shooting up out of the ground in front of the black and white warrior with no warning was a glass wall. A series of walls began shooting up also, seemingly building a pathway towards the large white dragon.

Glaring at the walls, Yubel yelled "What have you done!?"

Chuckling lightly, Jesse calmly said "I just saved Jaden. See, my Prism Wall forces your monster's attack to be redirected towards my Rainbow Dragon. But I'm not going to allow you to destroy Rainbow Dragon either, by no means. I play his special ability! By sending all my Crystal Beasts on my field to my Graveyard, I can add a 1000 attack points to my dragon for each one."

Eyes widening, Yubel asked shakily "You mean you can raise that dragon's strength!?"

"Sure can!" Jesse confidently remarked. "I send all six of my Crystal Beasts on my field to my Graveyard, thus raising the strength of Rainbow Dragon (4000 + 6 1000 10000/0)!"

Glowing one after another, the four crystals on the field in front of Jesse vanished, causing the gems on the sides of the dragon's body to begin to light up with a bright glow each. The two weaker gem creatures on the field then transformed into crystals as well and vanished, causing two more gems on the dragon's body to glow to life. Letting out a heavy roar, the white dragon's power increased greatly while rainbow energy began to gather in it's jaws.

"Let's finish this! Rainbow Dragon, counter with Rainbow Refraction!" Jesse cried out.

The dark orange energy that had been traveling towards the white and black warrior suddenly hit the glass walls and began snaking it's way towards the white pristine dragon. Opening it's jaws, the white dragon fired a beam back of it's own rainbow energy. The two blasts struck one another, causing a fierce explosion to erupt onto the field and through the roof of the dueling arena, sending debris flying everywhere.

Jaden was instantly thrown off the dueling ring and into a nearby wall that was fifteen feet away. Immediately, he lost consciousness while the battle in the dueling ring continued on.

Growling lowly, Yubel screamed "Your pathetic dragon can't win! I will have Jaden, no matter what you do!"

"That's where you're wrong." Jesse informed. "You see, this duel was over the moment I activated my Prism Wall. Even though our monsters are evenly matched, Prism Wall's secondary effect will take the last of our life points. When the battle ends between the two monsters, Prism Wall inflicts damage to the controller of the card and my opponent equal to the total of the monster's attack points that got the attack redirected to it. In other words, we're both about to lose 10000 life points. Not even I will survive this, but Jaden will."

Eyes widening in shock, Yubel's mouth was hung open and asked "Why would you go so far to protect Jaden!?"

"Because, he's my friend, and I swore I'd protect him. I know for sure he'd do the same for me." Jesse answered.

Glaring at him, Yubel's jaw clenched while hatred poured out of her eyes. Fisting her hands, she snarled out "I will not lose Jaden thanks to you! For your interference, I will take you away from him, like you took him away from me!"

Opening her right hand, she pointed it upwards with her palm flat. Above the pair, a blue shimmering portal opened, seemingly sucking everything into it's domain.

Staring at it in shock, Jesse yelled out "What are you doing!? You'll destroy us both to get rid of me!?"

"Not destroy, take away." Yubel corrected with a smirk. "Come, we will go to a world where you will forsake your precious friend."

With Yubel's words spoken, the two began to be sucked up towards the portal. The two warring creatures vanished slowly into the portal first, soon followed by Yubel. Jesse was nearly to the portal, but glanced down at the unconscious Jaden.

Feeling sadness in his heart, he sadly smiled and said "Jaden, be strong, and thanks for everything."

Upon his final words being said, Jesse was pulled into the portal, vanishing completely from sight along with the portal. Once the portal closed, the building completely collapsed in on itself, effectively burying Jaden and all of his friends.

--

Running at an inhuman speed thanks to his own Shadow Powers, if not on pure adrenaline, Illidan raced towards the Obelisk Blue House where Yugi and his family had been residing. Ignoring the fact that the others were far behind him, he pushed his body harder than he thought possible.

"_DAMN IT! I NEED TO MOVE FASTER!_" he groaned within his mind.

After another minute, he finally arrived and ran up to the front door. He slammed into it heavily with his shoulder, knocking it off of it's hinges due that he had been using his Hidden Flame technique to increase his speed and strength.

Seeing an unconscious Tea in the middle of the room, Illidan gasped and rushed to Tea's side. He noted a small bit of blood was leaking down the side of her lip, but nothing too nasty. Checking her vitals, he let out a small sigh of relief.

Seeing a letter on her stomach, Illidan picked it up and carefully examined the envelope that held it. After a moment, he glanced across the room and saw Yoshi laying on the ground. Throwing the letter onto the coffee table, he ran to her side, checking her over. Finding she was alive as well, Illidan stood up and moved to Arya's playpen.

Looking into the playpen, he saw no signs of his daughter. Glancing around the room, he looked for any signs of her, but found none. Beginning to slightly panic, he closed his eyes and began to reach out with his senses, searching for his daughter using his Shadow Powers. With fear and panic racing through his mind, he couldn't even begin to concentrate.

"_Calm down! If you want to find her, you need to calm down!_" he chided.

Snapping his eyes open, he began taking in a few deep breaths. Finally calming himself, he closed his eyes once more and reached out with his Shadow Powers. He could feel the rapid approach of his wife and Yugi, along with Seto, Pegasus, and the others. In the distance, he could sense Jaden's fight with Kevin, who had tremendous power within his body, but it wasn't natural. Still searching, he combed the island for his daughter's signal, but found none. Beginning to feel fear once more, he expanded his search to his outer limits, but still found nothing.

Falling to his hands and knees, Illidan's eyes opened. Hot tears began trickling down his cheeks upon realizing that he couldn't find his daughter at all.

"_There is no way they would... No, they wouldn't kill her! What good would it be for them to do that!? But she's not even on the island, or anywhere close by! So where is she!?_" he screamed in his mind.

About this time, he heard a gasp of shock and opened his eyes. Glancing up, he saw his wife and the others arriving. Yugi quickly rushed to Tea's side and pulled her into his arms carefully.

"TEA, TEA! CAN YOU HEAR ME TEA!?" he yelled near her ears with shimmering eyes.

There was no movement from her, but Illidan slowly stood and wiped the tears from his eyes and lowly mumbled "She's alive, Yugi. She's just knocked out."

Nodding, Yugi tried to swallow the lump in his throat when he saw Yoshi nearby laying on the ground. He carefully laid Tea down onto the floor once more and rushed to Yoshi's form. Gently, he lifted her into his arms and stared at her, his violet eyes letting tears run down his face at long last.

"My daughter… no, why would someone do this to my daughter!" he whimpered.

Glancing at Yugi once more, Illidan quietly said "They're both alive, Yugi. Each are just knocked out."

With a light nod, Yugi scooped Yoshi up into his arms and walked towards the loveseat and laid her down onto it. Walking back to Tea's side, he lifted her up and sat her down onto the nearby couch. Staring down at his wife and then over at his daughter, Yugi rushed off to the back, leaving the others behind.

"Illidan… where is she?" Marie soft tone asked.

Illidan felt his entire body tense upon her asking him her question. Clenching his fists, he lowered his face to below his bangs and turned away.

Staring at him, tears began to rush down her face and she whispered "No…"

Feeling his wife's pain, he turned back to her and walked over, embracing her tightly. "I can't find her…" he whispered in a broken voice. "I can't find her anywhere on the island…"

Both broke out in to heavier sobs, with the group looking on feeling their hearts go out to the once happy couple. Yugi soon returned with two damp wash clothes and placed them onto both Tea and Yoshi's foreheads.

After a few moments, the group took up seats and all had saddened looks on their faces while Illidan and Marie still clung to one another. Finally, Illidan's tears stopped and he pulled back.

"I swear we'll find her Marie. I vow on my life to never stop until I have found our daughter once more and she's back with us!" Illidan promised.

Weakly nodding, Marie embraced him once more and laid her head on his shoulder. "My sweet daughter… Why would they take her?"

"I don't know, but when I find the person that did, they will pay for it." Illidan lowly growled out.

Separating once more, the two looked back to the group and finally sat down. The entire group's looks were grim, for each felt a touch of anger and despair at the recent events.

"What could they possibly want with Arya?" Illidan finally questioned aloud.

Thinking for a moment, Seto finally said "To maybe get to you. After all, it could be you they are after."

"I have nothing though that they could want!" Illidan grunted out. "My Shadow Powers are strong, true, but even you have to admit that I was nothing compared to Legato last year. Hell, my powers aren't even a match for Marie once she taps into her inner power."

"Still, you have to admit, as of right now, you are the strongest person in this world with Shadow Powers." Seto countered.

Sighing, Illidan nodded. Suddenly, the entire group felt a massive outpouring of energy on the island. The entire group stood and ran to the windows. Looking out, they saw rainbow energy and dark orange energy ripping open the dueling arena, followed by a blue shimmering portal appearing above the blasts.

"Jaden!" Illidan screamed while running out of the house, with most of the group quickly following behind him.

Yugi hesitated for a moment to go with the group till Mai put a kind hand on his shoulder and softly smiled. "I'll stay with Tea and Yoshi. You go ahead, hun." she commented.

Throwing a thankful smile at her, Yugi replied "Thank you Mai."

Rushing off in the direction of the now collapsing building, Yugi put more speed out, hoping like all of the others that everyone would survive the disaster.

--

Reaching the wreckage of the former dueling arena, Illidan gasped in shock. Looking around, he yelled out "Is anyone still here!?"

Hearing nothing, he tried to calm his mind. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and pushed everything out of his mind that he could. Finally feeling calm, he began reaching out with his Shadow Powers, searching for any survivors within the rubble.

"_I have to concentrate and just stay focused. Someone could be in there._"

Suddenly, he sensed a few signals within the rubble. Remaining focused, he reasoned out after a few moments that one was Zane, which seemed to be the strongest of the signals. Next, he decided two others were Alexis and Chazz, but the final one caught his attention the most. It was without a doubt in his mind Jaden's, but it was extremely weak, as if he was unconscious or hurt.

Opening his eyes, he heard the others approaching rapidly, most panting heavily. Slowly, he walked into the rubble, watching to make sure none fell onto him.

"Are there any survivors?" Joey asked hesitantly.

Nodding lightly, Illidan carefully made his way towards where he had sensed most of the signals. The signals had mostly been together, but Jaden's had been separate. Finally arriving at the place where he decided was once the area for duelists to come out of the tunnel, he called on his Shadow Powers. Feeling his powers flaring up, he activated his Hidden Flame technique and began throwing larger slaps of concrete and metal out of the way.

The others quickly entered into the rubble and began helping him move it to the side and out of the way. After digging for a few minutes, the group finally found a person who was holding a weak barrier up. Upon removing the remains covering the barrier, it fell, revealing a dirty Zane.

"Zane!" Illidan yelled and quickly moved to him. Pulling him closer to himself, he checked his vitals, but Zane lightly groaned.

Opening his eyes, he softly smirked and said "I knew you'd come…"

"Where are the others!?" Illidan quickly asked, afraid for them now.

Motioning towards the remains of the tunnel, Zane coughed lightly and whispered "They're in there. Jaden and Jesse didn't make it in there though…"

Nodding, Illidan gently pulled Zane on out and carried him to the outside of the rubble and laid him down onto the ground flat. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Marie was already behind him.

"Marie, can you try and heal him?" Illidan softly asked.

Replying with a nod, Marie dropped to her knees and turned her palms towards Zane. A moment later, her hands glowed to life with light black colored energy. She leaned forward and placed her palms gently onto his chest, making him grunt with a touch of pain.

Sadly smiling, she sympathetically said "I know, it hurts. Don't worry, I'll fix you up."

Weakly nodding, Zane relaxed his body best he could. Seeing Marie was hard at work on trying to heal Zane, Illidan stood up and returned to the group who were trying to carve a path into the tunnel.

Arriving back, Illidan brushed the others aside, saying "Allow me. Since I'm still using my Shadow Powers to enhance my strength, I should be able to clear this out."

The group only nodded and watched while Illidan threw the heavy rubble aside. After digging for ten minutes, Illidan reached out with his powers and found he could sense several people within the rubble.

Clawing his way through a little quicker, he finally removed one last piece, revealing Alexis at long last. "Alexis!" he gasped in shock and quickly threw more of the rubble aside, freeing her at long last.

She weakly stepped out of the rubble. Behind her, the others that had been trapped were slowly pushing rubble out of their way to fall in line with her. At long last, Bastion, Chazz, Adrian, Jim, Axel, Hasselberry, and an unconscious Kevin finally all filed out, each with minor scratches.

Looking the students over, Illidan asked "How did you all manage to get that far back!?"

"It was Alexis. She told us to run when the dueling arena began to collapse. If not for her, we'd have been buried." Bastion responded.

Blushing lightly, Alexis regained her composure and glanced around. "Where are Jaden and Jesse?" she worriedly asked.

"We're still looking for them." Illidan answered. Seeing the sadness appear in her face, Illidan softly smiled and added "But we'll find them. Don't lose hope."

"Alright…" she mumbled.

"Guys, go over and have Marie check you all out. I don't think any of you are really hurt, but it wouldn't hurt to have yourselves checked on just in case." Illidan suggested.

The group of students all nodded and walked out of the rubble towards Marie, leaving the others behind, who were searching slowly for Jaden. After calming himself once more and searching again, Illidan picked up on Jaden's weakened signal and began digging for him.

After nearly ten minutes of digging, Illidan found the young man unconscious. His body seemed a bit beat up, but other than that, he was alive. Carefully lifting him up out of the debris, he rushed Jaden to Marie, who quickly healed him.

Even after being healed, Jaden remained asleep. Out of the entire group, Zane had had the worst injuries, with a nearly broken arm, but he had protected the group from the collapsing tunnel was why. Jaden was second worst, with him being unconscious, while everyone else only had minor injuries.

Some of the press that had been on the island quickly swarmed around Seto not long after everyone had been pulled out, but Seto sent them away. He was already infuriated at the loss of the dueling arena and needed no more attention.

At long last, everyone decided to meet up later at Illidan and Marie's home to discuss what had happened and where to go from there. Illidan had decided also to take Jaden with him to their home so he could rest comfortably. Alexis volunteered to stay with him, which the pair allowed.

Splitting up, the groups headed back to their dorms and homes to get cleaned up and rest slightly before they would meet to discuss what happened.


	22. Chapter 22: Explination

**Hey there everyone! Well, this weekend was pretty decent. Saturday, I spent the day working in the hay for my dad. I enjoyed it a good bit like usual. I know, that's strange, but working in the hay has always been a bit relaxing to me for some reason. The only thing that sucked about it was my allergies really began bothering me during the day. I'm on prescribed medicine, but that didn't help at all, lol. I finally got better, but still, it sucks when your allergies are killing you. Other than that, nothing is really new I suppose.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along on both stories, and I did come up with another idea for a fic. If I ever get time, it'll be a Naruto fic, but still, I'm like a long ways from ever writing on it.**

**Last time, the duel between Jaden and Jesse against Kevin raged on, with Kevin revealing he was truly being controlled by Yubel. In the end, Yubel and Jesse lost the duel, with Yubel opening a portal and transporting the two away. Illidan and the others found Arya was gone and went back to save the others, who were buried in the rubble of the dueling arena. The question now is what will the group do?**

**It's once more review time!**

**Vyser Dragoon: Yes, you knew it, lol. I know, it was very obvious, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, you knew it was Yubel like everyone else, lol. True, it might not be Yubel also. Glad you liked the fight. Things are interesting, that is for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, Rainbow Dragon and Yubel were definitely visible, but that last chapter made them very visible. Yes, true, interesting that Yubel decided to deal with Jesse and Jaden herself/himself. It's hard to figure out what Yubel is really, lol. I think it is caught in the middle, hehe. True, lots of emotions last chapter, with Illidan and Marie learning their precious daughter is now gone. Yes, I think you're right, when children are in danger, it seems like a primitive part of a person's brain kicks in. The urge to protect them flows out. Thanks for thinking I played on that well. I had hoped I captured what they would really feel. Things will be interesting from here on, that's for sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I appreciate them.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today, so I'm out. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 22**

Laying in bed unconscious still, Jaden's body began tensing up and sweating while he gripped the sheets around him tightly. Tossing and turning, he slowly began to lowly mumble something within his sleep.

Sitting by the bed, Alexis moved closed and took his palm into her own, but he quickly pulled it away, shocking her a bit. Frowning, she reached out again and tried to take hold of his palm, but like before, he jerked it away.

"Yubel… no, don't do it." he whimpered from his restless sleep.

Feeling her heart breaking while watching him lay in bed, seemingly in pain, Alexis decided to do the only thing she could think of. Slipping under the sheet, she wrapped her arms around the backside of his body and pulled him gently up against her own body. Jaden struggled slightly at first, but after a moment, relaxed and melted into her embrace. His breathing quickly lowered to normal and he rested much more peacefully. Slightly smiling, Alexis felt herself becoming drowsy and allowed herself to slip into a blissful sleep.

--

Holding Marie in his arms still on their bed, Illidan couldn't shake the feeling of dread as the hour approached that the group had decided to meet on. Ever since they had left the others a few hours before, he had been holding Marie in his arms while she had sobbed out over the missing daughter. The feeling of being powerless to help her filled him.

Still, he had held his wife, for it was all he could think to do, not to mention it helped comfort himself. Marie was his life, along with Arya. With half of the equation missing now, he only had Marie.

"_I will find Arya, no matter what it takes. Even if I have to go to Hell itself to find her, I will bring her back to Marie._" Illidan silently vowed.

Glancing up at the clock, he decided it was time for the pair to get ready. Gently, he kissed Marie's cheek. She had cried herself to sleep an hour before, and he had simply been letting her rest.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, revealing glassy brown orbs. She rolled over and looked into Illidan's own brown eyes. "It wasn't a nightmare, was it? Arya is still gone?" she asked hesitantly.

Feeling guilty, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded lightly. "Yes dearest, she's gone still. It's nearly time for the others to come over." he quietly mumbled.

A few tears spilt out of her eyes upon hearing Illidan's words. Not wanting to dwell on the thoughts any longer, she quickly sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed and walked out to the bathroom.

Sighing, Illidan rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "_She always gets this way whenever she is sad. When we lost Yami this last time, she was this way for a while till she finally let me into her heart again. I just wish I could help her more, but till she's ready, I have to wait._"

With a light grunt, he got out of bed and walked down the hall to the room where Jaden was resting. Opening the door, he softly smiled at the sight of Alexis with her arms wrapped around Jaden in the bed. Frowning slightly, he realized as an adult, it may not be the best thing to let the two do this, but he also knew how it was to be in love at a young age and not want the one you care about in pain. Sighing, he closed the door gently and left the sleeping pair.

Making his way downstairs, Illidan jumped lightly at the sight of Seto sitting in a chair within the living room. Calming down, Illidan smirked and sat down on the couch near Seto.

"Breaking an entering, come now Seto, that's not like you." Illidan teased.

Letting a small smirk appear from underneath his scowl, Seto responded "It's not my style usually, but I didn't want to wait for you to get up."

A small lapse of silence filled the air till finally Illidan asked "Did you get rid of the press?"

"For now, I hope." Seto grunted out. "I gave them a half truth. I said a terrorist attacked and blew up the dueling arena. It's technically true, since the duel between Jaden and Kevin apparently destroyed the dueling arena."

"I suppose." Illidan murmured. "I guess Jaden will explain once he wakes."

In a concerned tone, Seto asked "How is Marie?"

Lightly sighing, Illidan clenched his fists and replied "She's devastated. When we got back, we laid down and she sobbed till she fell asleep. Arya's disappearance is very hard on her right now."

"It's hard on you too." Seto added, earning a look of surprise from Illidan.

Sadly smiling, Illidan replied "I suppose so… I still can't understand what anyone thinks they'll gain by taking Arya. She's just a child. Her Shadow Powers aren't even fully developed yet, plus if they wanted me, why bother sending someone to try and distract me while taking her."

"We'll find out. Don't worry." Seto comforted.

"Thanks."

Standing up, Illidan quietly said "Excuse me for a few minutes. I need to go get Jaden and Alexis up, and see if I can get Marie on down here. With company coming, we should all be here."

"Right…" Seto lightly remarked.

"Excuse me." Illidan slightly bowed and went up the stars while Seto watched the retreating figure.

--

An hour after speaking with Seto, everyone had piled into Illidan and Marie's home for the meeting. Yugi, with Tea and Yoshi next to him, sat on the couch. Nearby, on the loveseat, Joey and Mai sat. Seto and Pegasus, much to Seto's chagrin, sat next to one another in wooden chairs. Beside of them, Chazz, Alexis, and Jaden sat together in the floor against the wall. At the far wall, Zane leaned against it with his arms folded on his chest. Near the front, Illidan and Marie sat together.

"Thanks for everyone coming. I know it's been a busy day, but we need to discuss what has happened." Illidan announced.

The group all nodded, allowing him to proceed. "Earlier today, Kevin came to the auditorium saying he had explosives hidden, or so we thought, throughout the dueling arena. The arena was immediately emptied, thankfully, allowing Kevin to prove he didn't have anything. He was instead just a distraction."

Getting a light nod towards her from Illidan, Tea returned the nod and spoke up. "While everyone was at the arena, a young man came to mine and Yugi's home. I didn't recognize his face, but after thinking for a few moments, I remembered his name, and I'm sure it's him. He said his name was Syrus Truesdale."

"SYRUS!" Zane burst out loud. "Are you sure!?"

Nodding, Tea replied "I'm sure of it. At any rate, where was I? Ah, yes, Syrus had come to my door, telling me that Illidan and Marie had asked him to fetch Arya and bring her to them immediately. I didn't believe that for a second, knowing that Marie herself would come before she'd send anyone else. Upon coming to that conclusion, I tried to shut the door, but he stopped me. He burst in then and knocked Yoshi unconscious with his Shadow Powers…"

"Shadow Powers!?" Zane asked in shock. "But he had none when he vanished!"

Throwing a sharp glare at Zane, Illidan hissed "Be quiet till she's finished! I know you're worried, but just wait till she's done to ask questions!"

Glaring back himself, Zane finally quieted, prompting Tea to continue. "I was afraid, but I attacked Syrus. He managed to dodge all of my attacks. Eventually, he hit me in the gut and went to go get Arya from her playpen. I stopped him by knocking him off balance, which didn't go over well for his anger. We fought some more till finally he knocked me down again and then hit me hard enough to knock me unconscious. That's all I remember till I woke up to find Yugi by my side."

Squeezing Tea's hand, Yugi quietly said "I'm very thankful that both of you are alive."

"We're fine Yugi. You had no way of knowing we'd be attacked." she smoothly remarked.

"You said Syrus had Shadow Powers?" Zane interrupted, prompting Tea to look up at him and nod.

"Yes, he fired a blast of Shadow Magic at Yoshi and knocked her into the kitchen wall. That was all the Shadow Magic I saw, but I know what I saw. Being with Yugi all these years, I'd never forget what it looked like." Tea confirmed.

Nodding lightly, Zane asked "May I ask one other question? Was there anything out of the ordinary about him?"

Tapping her chin lightly, Tea thought for a moment till finally saying "His eyes and demeanor changed completely whenever I refused to let Arya go with him. He got aggressive."

"His eyes?" Zane asked with a touch of shock.

Replying with a nod, Tea calmly said "His eyes changed from a green color to an icy blue color." Shivering lightly, she added "Peering into them was a bit frightening. They were like looking at something you know you shouldn't."

"I see…" Zane lightly commented and bowed. "Thank you Tea."

Glancing around the room, Illidan asked "Any other questions?"

The group remained quiet, with a few shaking their heads no. Seeing he could move on, Illidan calmly said "There is the issue of the letter that was left behind."

"A letter?" Zane questioned.

Nodding, Illidan picked it up off of the coffee table. "I haven't opened it yet. I think now is as good a time as any." he commented.

The group nodded in reply, causing Illidan to open the letter and pull it out. Carefully, he began reading through it.

"To the former Shadow Court,

As I'm sure you're aware by now, Illidan and Marie's daughter has been taken captive. Do not worry, no harm will come to her. No, my Master has no intentions of harming the child. Why he wishes to have her, I'm unsure myself. That is not the important matter at hand though.

I'm sure each and every one of you in the room would love to retaliate against the ones that pulled this off. You wish to take revenge for the little girl, but as I'm sure you are aware, you have no direction to go in. Well, I'm going to give you a direction, more like a location and time so that you can join in this little game.

In three days, at midnight, a portal will open to another dimension. Within this dimension, precious Arya is being held. Those of you with the courage to venture into this dimension, my Master welcomes you and hopes you will seek him out once you are here so he can crush you in a duel and take away your Duel Energy.

I do hope to see all of you in this dimension. It will make things much more interesting, to say the least. Till then, let the fear of what my Master may do with Arya consume you all. Let it feed your anger and darkness, then unleash it once you arrive.

Syrus Truesdale"

Finishing up, Illidan clutched the paper tightly and began to wrinkle it. Not wanting to damage it any further, he placed it onto the coffee table and sat back down onto the couch while glaring down at it. Clenching his fist, he could feel his anger boiling over, slowly consuming his emotions.

Making a decision, he stood up and said "I'm going, with or without any help. I will not allow this insanity to harm my daughter. I'll fight for her, no matter what!"

"I'm going too." Marie piped up while standing. "My daughter is very precious to me, and I won't allow whoever this is to harm her! If it takes my very life to save her, I'll do it."

"Marie…" Illidan murmured, but regained his focus. "Who else will go with us?"

Yugi stood up and said "I will. I can't forgive whatever or whoever was controlling Syrus. They harmed my wife and child, thus I will fight with all that I have to stop this person or persons."

"I'm with you pal!" Joey chimed in with a big goofy grin.

Shaking his head, Illidan replied "No Joey, you should stay here."

Shocked at Illidan's words, Joey growled out "Why not!? I'm strong enough to help!"

"I wish to only take people who have Shadow Powers. It's true, you are very resistant to them, but that's all. You have no natural Shadow Powers, thus you wouldn't be able to help out that much is why." Illidan explained.

"But…" Joey began, but was cut off by Yugi. "Joey, I agree with Illidan. This mission, it will require people with Shadow Powers, that much is for certain. Whatever awaits us in this new dimension, I'm sure it will require us all to have incredible strength."

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, Joey grumbled "Alright…"

"I do ask that you stay at the school though." Illidan commented, earning him a look from Joey in surprise. "I wish for someone to stay around here, just in case something happens again while we're gone."

Smiling, Joey nodded and confidently replied "You can count on me! Me and Mai will protect this place to the best of our abilities!"

"Thank you." Illidan replied with a small smile.

"I'm going." Seto remarked. Staring at him, Yugi asked "Don't you have to run Kaiba Corp and all instead?"

"I don't care. This is personal to me, and I won't abandon the duties that feel I need to stay loyal to. Mokuba can take care of things anyways." Seto explained.

Smiling, Illidan replied "Welcome aboard then."

The group glanced at Pegasus next, who sweat dropped. "You can't be serious about me going, now can you Illi-boy!?" he asked with nervousness in his voice.

"No, actually, I can't. We do need someone with Shadow Powers to stick around also, so if you would, it would be helpful." Illidan remarked.

Nodding, Pegasus replied "I would be happy to help. Rest assured, the students at this school will be safe with me here."

"I feel better already." Illidan smartly remarked.

Looking up to Illidan, Jaden said "I'm going."

Frowning, Illidan slowly replied "Jaden…"

Cutting off Illidan, Jaden said "No, I'm going. This is my fault that Jesse was taken captive too… He didn't deserve to be captured like that, so I'm going."

"What exactly happened anyways?" Marie asked with a curious voice.

Looking down at his clenched hands, Jaden slowly began. "When you guys left, the duel hadn't started. Jesse jumped in to help me. We challenged Kevin to a two on one duel. He accepted, but his voice had changed. It wasn't his own, but a female voice. Near the end of the duel, the one controlling Kevin released him, revealing their true form…"

Clenching his hands tighter, Jaden felt small tears forming within his eyes, but continued on. "The one controlling Kevin was a Duel Spirit that I used to know, called Yubel."

"Yubel?" Seto asked with a look of concern on his face. "That name, it's familiar."

A few tears slid down Jaden's cheeks when he weakly nodded and replied "It should since I sent it in to Kaiba Corp when I was just seven years old."

"When you were seven?" Kaiba asked in shock.

Weakly nodding, Jaden replied "You were having a contest for designing cards. I'll get to that in a moment though."

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to reign in his emotions. Receiving a small squeeze from Alexis's hand, Jaden softly smiled at her and slowly began his tale. "This all started when I was around six years old. For my birthday that year, my foster dad bought me some Duel Monsters cards. I was so happy with them, and he had bought one really special one for me."

Sadly smiling, he said "I remember how happy I was when I got it. It was Yubel. I soon enough built my first deck and was ready to begin dueling. I spent a lot of recess at school dueling. Unfortunately, my foster mom and dad spent a lot of time at work, so when I'd get home, no one was there, but usually I went over to someone's home at the apartment complex."

His face fell while the memories slowly flooded back to him. "One day, I was dueling a friend of mine, Osamu. The duel was pretty fun, and I had a few monsters out. I drew my next card and picked up Yubel. She was my favorite card. Like everyone can surmise, I could commune with her Duel Spirit. Anyways, I played her, only to hit a trap that returned her to my hand. I lost the duel the next turn."

Tears slowly slid down his cheeks when he continued on. "Osamu consoled me in my loss, which I was mostly upset over Yubel not getting to fight. Yubel's spirit had told me it was alright and then suddenly, her card began to glow. Next thing I knew, Osamu slumped to the ground."

The crowd lightly gasped in shock while Jaden wiped away a few of his tears with his coat sleeve, but it didn't stop the flow. "He was taken to the hospital and evaluated. They couldn't find anything wrong with him, but I knew Yubel had done something to him, and she refused to tell me. When I dueled other people and lost, the same thing happened again and again. Eventually, everyone got scared of me. I was afraid too, for every time I dueled, someone got hurt."

Sniffling lightly, he added "Then, near my seventh birthday, I heard about a contest that Kaiba Corp was throwing. It was a create a card contest, so I decided to enter. I drew up several card designs, all of them were the Neo-Spacians and Neos."

Gasps filled the room, with Pegasus asking "You're the one who drew those cards!?"

"Yes, it was me." Jaden replied, making Seto smirk.

"So they were your cards. I should have known… After all, there was an extra card sent with it." Seto remarked.

Nodding lightly, Jaden sadly smiled. "When I sent in my entries, I sent in Yubel too. I knew that the cards were going to be sent into space to collect space energy. My hope was that Yubel would inherit the same power Neos and the Neo-Spacians would, thus making her give up her cruel ways of hurting people I lost to."

Clenching his free hand, he lowly growled and muttered "But something went wrong…"

"I can fill in why it may have gone wrong." Kaiba spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "When we launched the cards into space, we launched two rockets instead of one."

"Two? Why?" Illidan asked, seemingly confused.

Sighing, Seto slowly said "There were two space phenomenal events happening at the same time. We wished to put cards through each to see what would happen. The first was a wave of darkness. The second was a wave of light. We were unsure what the effects would be on the cards, but we were curious, so we sent one rocket loaded down with Jaden's created cards into the wave of darkness. The other rocket was sent into the wave of light."

"Let me guess, you loaded the second with Yubel?" Yugi asked, if not stated.

Nodding, Seto replied "Yes, we placed Yubel within the second rocket. The first rocket successfully made it through the wave of darkness and returned to Earth with no problems at all. There were no real differences in the cards, so we decided to give them to Pegasus."

Looking to Pegasus, the group awaited an answer. After a moment, Pegasus finally said "I kept the cards for several years till about two years ago. Maybe a little less. Anyways, I put them up for grabs in a tournament, and wouldn't you know it, Jaden-boy won it. I gave them to him, who was ecstatic."

"Still, what happened to the other rocket?" Jaden asked, seemingly a touch worried.

Sighing, Seto looked down to the ground and said "We lost contact with the rocket the day it went into the wave of light. No matter what we tried, we couldn't find it. It was as if it vanished into thin air."

"Yubel… she must have survived and returned somehow." Jaden quietly remarked. A few tears slowly slid down his face and he buried his face into his hands. "This is my entire fault. If I hadn't of sent Yubel away, she wouldn't be doing this!"

Looking at Jaden with sad eyes, Alexis felt her own heart breaking. Unable to sit and watch any longer, she moved in front of him and pulled him into a warm embrace.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Illidan spoke up, getting Jaden to look up from Alexis's shoulder. "You did what you thought was right, and don't forget, Yubel is responsible for her own actions. Duel Spirits have a will of their own Jaden, and you did the only thing you could do, which was send her away."

Being released from Alexis's embrace, Jaden glanced down at the floor and asked "Then why does it hurt so much?"

"It'll ease in time Jaden. For now though, we have to focus on the task before us." Illidan quietly responded. "We must save Arya, and see if we can find Jesse. If he's in the same place that Arya was taken to, we'll save him. Jaden, will you go?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Jaden answered without any hesitation "Yes, I'm going. We'll find Arya and Jesse, I swear it!"

"I'm going too!" Alexis chimed in.

"And count me in too." Chazz added.

Shaking his head slightly, Illidan replied "You two shouldn't go."

"And why not Illidan!?" Alexis heatedly fired back with fire in her eyes. "Jesse was our friend too! Besides, you said you needed duelists to go that had Shadow Powers. Both me and Chazz have a Shadow Charm, making us eligible to go!"

About to reply back, Illidan was stopped by Marie taking hold of his hand, making him glance at her. She only shook her head and said "Alexis and Chazz, you are welcome to join us on this mission."

"Marie…" Illidan lowly growled, but got a hot glare back from Marie. Backing down, he grunted out "Very well, you may come."

"We won't let you guys down." Chazz commented with a small smirk of victory.

Lightly sighing, Illidan mumbled lowly "I hope not."

"I'm going also." Zane flatly stated.

Glancing at the young man, Illidan nodded lightly. "Alright Zane, you can come too."

Looking around the room, Illidan calmly said "Then the team is set. It will be myself, Marie, Yugi, Seto, Zane, Jaden, Alexis, and Chazz. The eight of us will go to this other world and find Arya, and attempt to find Jesse. Once we're successful, we'll return. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" the group called out.

Nodding, Illidan stood up and added "We'll convene tomorrow to discuss what we're taking and strategies. I want to be prepared for when we cross over in a few days, understood?"

"Yes." each and every member of the team replied.

"Good. For now, we should rest. This day has been hard enough as it is, and I'm sure some of us need more rest than others." Illidan remarked while glancing at Jaden. "We'll meet again tomorrow at noon."

--

Laying in bed on his side with Marie in his arms, Illidan had his eyes closed and poking his nose into Marie's soft hair, but he was very much awake. The pair had gone to bed a few hours earlier, but neither had fallen asleep yet. Worry filled each of them.

"The house is so quiet…" Marie mumbled with a hint of sadness.

Cracking his eyes open, Illidan felt fresh tears preparing to spill upon her words, but held them back. "Yeah, it is… It's so eerie."

"Do you think we'll see our daughter again?" she asked randomly.

Forcing his emotions back, Illidan began to answer, but was cut off by Marie turning over to face him. "I want the truth Illidan." she sternly admonished.

Taking a deep breath, Illidan leaned his forehead against her own and murmured softly "I don't know… I honestly don't know."

A silence filled the air between the two, making each a bit uncomfortable. Finally, Illidan said "But I hope we'll find her. I know if we don't give up on her, we'll definitely find her. Have faith my love."

"I do…" Marie voice creaked out. "I want to believe so badly that our baby is fine, and that we'll rescue her from whoever did this. But I'm so worried about her."

"I know… I'm very worried too." Illidan muttered. Quieting for a moment, he took a deep breath and mumbled "If something happens while we're over in this other dimension to me…"

"Don't say anything else like that!" Marie cut in sharply. "I won't lose you too, so don't even start talking like that!"

Sighing lightly, Illidan grunted out "Alright… I'm just worried."

"I'm scared too." Marie mumbled in reply. Apologetically, she whispered "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. We won't lose one another, alright?"

Lightly chuckling, Illidan asked "Since when have you become the positive one of the two of us?"

"I guess you've rubbed off on me some." she giggled.

Slightly smiling, Illidan gently placed a chastising kiss on her lips and pulled back a bit to stare into her eyes. Even though it was dark, the light coming in through the blinds from the full moon in the sky gave the pair enough to see into one another's eyes. Staring deep into them, he felt himself becoming lost in her orbs while she did the same to him.

"Don't ever leave me." Marie whispered lowly while leaning her forehead onto his and lacing her fingers with his.

Tightening the grip the pair had on one another's hands, Illidan leaned into her forehead a bit more and whispered back "I will never abandon you. I'll be with you forever."

Laying there, seemingly finally quieting their minds, the pair fell asleep in one another's arms.

--

Staring a hole into the bed above his, Jaden restlessly turned over once more. Since he had gone to bed, he had laid in it for five hours, not feeling one bit sleepy. His body ached for rest, but his mind refused to give in. Thoughts of the day's events continued running through his mind over and over, and only two figures would always end up at the end of the cycle each time. The images of the two figures that had vanished at the end of the duel, leaving him with the consequences of it's results.

"Why Yubel? Why did you take Jesse!?" he groaned out loud. He had asked the same question aloud multiple times already, but each time, he couldn't answer it.

Clenching his fists, he felt fresh tears beginning to fall. "Why Yubel, why did you take Jesse away? He didn't do anything to deserve to be taken by you!" he fiercely declared.

Sobbing softly, he continued to lay in his bed throughout the night till finally he cried himself to sleep.

--

Staring at the ceiling, Zane had a scowl implanted upon his face. Tea's words continued to ring throughout his head.

"_... He said his name was Syrus Truesdale._"

"Syrus…" he mumbled softly. "Could you have been taken control of as well? But by who, and why?"

Fear crept into his mind of a second possibility. Shaking his head, he grunted, muttering "No, Syrus would never willingly join someone like Yubel."

Still staring at the ceiling, he sighed lightly. "What will I do though if he is still under someone's control? Can I set him free?" he pondered aloud. "And if I free him, will he be the same Syrus I've always known?"

Closing his eyes, he sighed and felt hot tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. Reaching up, he wiped one away and sadly smiled. "I was so tough on him growing up, I wonder if that is why he left? Or if someone used that to take him away."

Heavily sighing, he rolled over onto his stomach and finally felt a twinge of sleep entering his body. Yawning, he laid still till sleep finally took hold of him.

--

Laying in bed with Tea wrapped protectively in his arms, and Yoshi in hers, Yugi softly smiled. Yoshi had had a nightmare and couldn't sleep, and asked to stay with the pair. They had been accommodating and let her into their bed. Both Yoshi and Tea had fallen back into a blissful sleep while Yugi still remained awake. In fact, he had never been asleep before Yoshi had asked to join them.

Listening to his wife and daughter's deep breathing, Yugi closed his eyes and enjoyed feeling the warmth of Tea's back to his body. Just hearing their breathing somewhat calmed his mind, but still, the fear from earlier that day lurked within.

"_This is the first time in a long time that I've feared for my wife's safety. When I fought Marik in Battle City, I was terrified of losing her during my duel with Joey, but she was saved. Then when Dartz attacked, she was with the Pharaoh through all of his trials and tribulations. And when we went into the Millennium Puzzle to save help discover Yami's past, I again feared for her._"

Lightly sighing at the past memories, the day's events once more rolled through his mind again. "_Damn that Yubel... She was nothing but a decoy while whoever controlled Syrus attacked my family to steal Arya. It was bad enough for Illidan and Marie to lose their only daughter, but the sight of seeing Tea and Yoshi on the ground unconscious, that was almost too much to bear... If I lost either, my world would crumble down around me, without a doubt. They're my life, even when I was gone away for all those years. The hope of seeing them once more spurred me on to keep fighting and to live for them._"

Feeling anger well up within himself, he took a deep breath and opened his violet eyes, slowly calming his mind. "_No need to get all worked up over this. I'll find this person once we're in this other world, after we find and save Arya and possibly Jesse. But if I find Yubel, I'll make sure she never harms another person again._"

Yawning, he softly smiled once more at Tea and Yoshi. Closing his eyes, he whispered in his mind "_At least they're alive and with me still. No matter what, I will protect both of you._"


	23. Chapter 23: Arrival

**Hey gang! Not much is new in my personal life, so I'll move along.**

**I do have a bit of an announcement to make first off. Unfortunately, me and ardee have fallen behind on production of this story. See, we kind of took a bit of an extended break, and well, that wasn't so good since I've been posting 2 chapters a week, lol. Anyways, we still have chapters, but this story isn't complete yet, so until further notice, I have no choice but to post only once a week. This is temporary, and hopefully within a few weeks or so, it will end, but for the time being, I can only post 1 chapter a week to ensure that this story continuously updates. I hope everyone understands, and I truly apologize.**

**Last time, the group found out that Syrus and Yubel have taken Arya to another dimension, but they are going to open a portal for the group. Thoughts of those that have been taken weigh heavily on the groups minds, as eight of them (Yugi, Illidan, Marie, Seto, Jaden, Zane, Alexis, and Chazz) have decided to enter this new dimension and rescue Arya, Syrus, and Jesse. Will the group of eight find their friends, or will they bite off more than they can chew?**

**Ok, moving along, reviews!**

**Vyser Dragoon: To Dark World? Eh, never know, lol. I know, quit being mysterious. It's just a habit, lol. True, how will they duel. I guess with Duel Disks, hehe. But good question, why are you talking like that? Anyways, thanks for the review!**

**pinklover100: Welcome to the reviews, and yes, **_**Minutes to Midnight **_**was named after Linkin Park. ardee kind of came up with the name actually, lol. At any rate, thanks for the review!**

**Wow, that was quick. I'm surprised the reviews didn't take so long. (/Shrugs\) At any rate, thanks to those that did review.**

**I'm done for today, so later.**

**Chapter 23**

Opening his backpack, Illidan set it down onto his bed and began searching for what all he'd need to take with him. He was no longer wearing his school uniform, but instead a pair of blue jeans, a red t-shirt for an undershirt, and a black unbuttoned button up shirt with short sleeves with a red dragon on the back.

Grabbing a few pairs of jeans, he set them out and threw five shirts on top of it, along with five pairs of boxers and socks. Finding his hair and tooth brush, he threw them down, along with some shampoo and soap. Glancing around the room, he discovered his compass on a rope and picked it up. Moving to his dresser, he opened it and found a large bowie knife in the top drawer. Determining it was sharp enough, he threw it and the compass down onto the bed with the other materials.

Pulling the pocket knife out of his pocket that he always carried, he checked how sharp it was and determined it was satisfactory. Replacing it in his pocket, he found his sharpening stone and placed it with the remainder of his stuff. Moving to the closet, he found a blanket and threw it onto the bed.

Deciding he had packed enough thus far, he began placing his things into the backpack. On the bottom, he placed his clothes, then his personal care items. On top of it, he sat the sharpening stone and the blanket.

Closing his backpack, Illidan secured the knife on his left side and placed the rope holding the compass around his neck. Determining he had everything he needed thus far, he picked the bag up and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Looking in the pantry, he found several cups of ramen and stuffed them into his pack, along with a few apples, oranges, and bananas. Grabbing ten bottles of water, he threw them in too and zipped his pack up.

Setting the backpack down near the door, Illidan walked into the room that was his office and found his deck and Duel Disk sitting on his desk. Picking his deck up, he searched it for a moment and finally determined it was ready. Placing it into his deck holder on his hip, he shut the case and grabbed his Duel Disk up and strapped it onto his arm. Glancing around the room once more, he determined everything was with him that he needed from it and returned to the living room.

Hearing Marie coming down the stairs, Illidan glanced up to see she was wearing a pair of blue jeans herself, with a purple t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail that trailed down to her lower back.

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, she set her backpack down beside of Illidan's and walked into her office. Returning a few moments later, she arrived with her Duel Disk on her arm and her deck in it's holder on her hip.

"Ready to go?" she questioned.

Nodding, Illidan replied calmly "Yes, I have everything. I put all the food, water, and supplies in already."

"Good. I put my food and water in earlier, and threw in my supplies also." Marie remarked.

Staring at Marie, Illidan softly smiled. Walking over to her, he took her into his arms and embraced her, pulling her close to his body. Resting his forehead against hers, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly.

"I only pray we all make it back and find Arya, along with the others we wish to find." Illidan mumbled.

Sadly smiling, Marie weakly replied "I miss her so much Illidan…"

"I know, but we'll find her. Remember, I promised we'll find her, and I never break a promise, right?" Illidan tenderly asked.

Softly smiling, Marie pulled back and nodded. Sighing, she embraced him fully and breathed in his scent. Settling a bit, she moved away and said "I suppose we should go soon."

"Yeah, very soon we'll need to leave. The portal is supposed to open up at the old ruins where Jaden said he visited the Gravekeeper's Chief at."

Nodding, Marie softly walked up the stairs, saying "I'll return in a moment."

"Ok."

Standing alone, Illidan closed his eyes and mumbled in his mind "_Whoever did this will pay, I promise._ _Taking our daughter, and harming my wife like this, they will pay dearly for it all._"

Feeling a familiar presence appear beside of him, Illidan opened his eyes to find the transparent mage beside of him. "_Master Illidan._" the mage quietly greeted.

"Yes?" Illidan asked in a touch of a cold voice.

Sighing slightly, the mage whispered "_Master, don't let it consume you._"

"Let what consume me?" Illidan asked in response with a cocked eyebrow.

Again sighing, the mage solemnly said "_This rage that is building within you over what has happened. I know you're angry, and have every right to be, but remember what your old teacher taught you. If you fight with all that rage and fury, you'll lose control of yourself, and possibly lose your chances at saving your daughter. I don't wish for that to happen._"

Sadly smiling and taking a deep breath, Illidan quietly said "You're right… I'm letting this thing consume me. I haven't been this angry since I lost Marie in our clash with Darcia and Dartz. It's like I can't push it out of my mind, it's all I think about."

"_I know Master Illidan, you wish to find your daughter and avenge her for what happened to her, but allowing hate to grow in your heart will only breed more hate, thus causing a never ending cycle. I don't wish to lose you to something like that. None of us do._" the mage calmly said.

Heavily sighing, Illidan nodded. "I will try and not let this consume me. I won't allow it to take me that far over the edge."

"_Good, because we would hate to see you do that Master. But we would follow you still, no matter where your path lies._" the mage remarked.

"Thank you."

Hearing some rustling upstairs, Illidan glanced up to see Marie returning. The transparent mage vanished, leaving only Illidan behind.

Arriving at Illidan's side, Marie sadly smiled and glanced around the house. "I guess I'm ready. I just hope we make it back here." she said with a touch of sadness in her voice.

"Believe in our abilities my love and we'll make it back." Illidan replied with a small smile.

Nodding, Marie picked up her pack. Illidan did the same and the two flicked the lights off. Opening the door, both walked out with Illidan locking the door on his way out. Walking away from their home hand in hand, neither could help but wonder if they would make it back, but each pushed such thoughts away quickly.

In their minds, each focused on the task at hand, hoping to be reunited with their daughter once more.

--

Watching Yugi continue to pack his things, Tea couldn't help but want to cry, but she held it in. Years ago, when Yugi had set out on his way to stop the Shadow Powers of the world from spreading, she had bawled daily for a few months, till finally she decided she had to continue on with life. She had Yoshi to take care of, but that didn't make things any easier for her back then.

Suddenly stopping what he was doing, Yugi fully stood up. He felt himself ready to cry also, but knew he couldn't, not in front of Tea. "_I have to be strong for her..._" he chided himself.

Turning around, he walked over to his wife, who was in the door frame of their bedroom. Without a second thought, he embraced her, enjoying the feeling of her skin against his own, along with the lingering scent of her perfume.

"Tea, I swear, I will come back. No matter what it takes, I will return to you and Yoshi, even if I have to walk through Hell itself to return." he vowed softly to her.

Unable to hold the tears back any longer, Tea let them slide down her cheeks. Pulling back to look into his violet eyes, that were shimmering, she saw nothing but sincerity and love in them. "I know… I will wait for you, no matter how long you are gone." she quietly vowed in return.

Sadly smiling, he kissed her gently at first, then deepened the kiss and the intensity of the kiss. Finally coming up for air, both rested their heads against one another, each panting lightly. Taking his left hand, he gently cupped her right cheek and softly rubbed it.

"I will forever love you Tea. Know that my love is for only you and Yoshi." he tenderly said.

Leaning more into his touch, Tea murmured "I know. Our love is only for you too Yugi. Just return home to us."

Nodding lightly, Yugi turned around and went back to packing. Finishing up a moment later, he picked up his backpack and walked back over to his slightly shaking wife. Planting a kiss on her lips, he deepened it slightly and then pulled back.

"I swear, I will be back. Have faith in me, my love."

Sadly smiling with tears sliding down her cheeks, she nodded and said "I will await your return, for however long it takes."

Sighing heavily, he kissed her on the cheek and walked out of their bedroom, leaving Tea by herself, who went to their bed and threw herself onto it, allowing the tears that she was still holding back flow out.

Hearing the sound of his wife's sobbing nearly broke Yugi's heart, making him want to reconsider what he was doing, but knowing he had work to do, he steeled his resolve. Making it downstairs, he took a ragged breath and set his backpack by the door. Moving into Yoshi's playroom, he saw his daughter sitting coloring.

Glancing up, Yoshi saw her father and put her crayons down. She stood up and went running to her father, who kneeled down and embraced the young girl. "Daddy!" she happily said.

Embracing his daughter tightly, Yugi tried to find the words he needed to say to his daughter. Since he had returned, Tea had said that Yoshi had transformed from a shy little girl to a very outgoing one. He had never realized that being gone would have so much of an impact on his daughter, but he never expected that him being around would have as equally a large an impact.

Sucking in a deep breath, Yugi closed his eyes and felt himself fighting back his own tears. Noting something seemed wrong with her father, Yoshi pulled back and asked "Father, what's wrong?"

"Yoshi… Daddy has to go away for a while." he weakly said. "Uncle Illidan and Aunt Marie need his help."

Realizing Yugi was leaving, Yoshi's eyes welled up with tears, breaking Yugi's own heart. "How long will you be gone Daddy?" she quietly asked.

"I'm not sure…" he softly said, feeling the pain in his heart of telling this to his daughter.

Yoshi remained quiet for a moment before she hugged him once more and let tears flow out her eyes and onto his blue clothing. "I'll miss you Daddy…" she sobbed out.

Holding his own tears in, Yugi rubbed the back of his daughter and replied "I'll miss you too Yoshi."

Pulling her back, he looked her in the eye and added "I'll make you a promise though, ok?"

"A promise?" Yoshi sniffled out.

Nodding, Yugi sadly smiled and said "I promise I'll return home to you and Mommy soon, ok?"

Weakly nodding back in reply, Yoshi embraced her father tightly once more. Hugging just a fiercely back, Yugi finally released his hold on Yoshi and kissed the top of her head. Ruffling her hair, he smiled weakly at her and said "I love you Yoshi, and I'll be home soon."

Yoshi could only sniffle and nod back. She whispered "I love you too Daddy."

Unable to stay with his daughter any longer, Yugi left the playroom and picked up his backpack by the door. Opening the door, he glanced back at his home. The urge to run to his daughter and wife was almost overwhelming, but he fought against it, knowing he had a duty. Taking one last breath, he walked out the door and gently closed it behind him. Upon being alone outside, he felt hot tears run down his cheeks. Wiping them away, he began his trek towards the ancient ruins where he was to meet the others.

--

Packing the last of his clothing and supplies, Jaden heavily sighed. Glancing over at a picture that he had sitting on his desk, he walked over and picked it up.

In the frame was a picture of himself, Syrus, and Chumley in their first year. The picture was taken of the three of them laughing at Professor Banner covered in dark smoke. He had failed at another of his alchemy experiments at the dorm, earning the entire group a laugh. The picture had been taken by Alexis, who had been with the group of three that day.

Setting the picture down, he glanced at another that was nearby that had just been taken a week ago. It was of him and Jesse hanging out, laughing at one another over their fun duels.

Placing the photo in his backpack, Jaden glanced outside and closed his eyes. "_I promise Jesse, no matter what it takes, I will find you! It's my fault that you paid for my mistakes, so no matter what, I will make this right._"

A memory of his past came into his mind of the duel a few days ago. When he had seen Yubel, his past had rushed back to him, surprising him that she was back on Earth and now seemingly after him.

"_Yubel... It's my fault I sent you into space. I sent you only to become stronger and bond with Neos. I had hoped that his sense of justice would fill you too, and make you stop hurting my friends. I know you always meant well, but you hurt too many of my past friends, and I had to do something._"

Feeling tears welling up in his closed eyes, a memory of the day he saw his cards blasted off into space appeared. "_I remember watching the two rockets take off. I was hopeful that you'd be safe, along with Neos, and that both of you would return eventually to me so we could all be friends again. Instead, you were sent off on your own, where you suffered alone while Neos got the gift of justice and had the Neo-Spacians. I'm so sorry for that Yubel, but this hatred you harbor now, I don't understand._"

Hearing a knock on his door, Jaden quickly opened his eyes, allowing tears to escape at long last. Wiping them away with his sleeve, he walked over to his door and opened it, finding Alexis and Chazz standing at it with solemn looks on their faces.

"You ready yet, Slacker?" Chazz asked with his usual irritable tone.

Slightly chuckling at the name Chazz had always mocked him with, Jaden nodded and grabbed his backpack. He swung it over both shoulders and picked up his Duel Disk.

Smiling at both, he said "I'm all ready now."

The three nodded and Jaden closed his dorm room door, locking it behind him. Together, the trio headed off towards the ruins where they were to meet the rest of the group.

--

Arriving at the ruins, Illidan saw that Zane and Seto were already at the sight. Noting the two were wearing older attires, with Zane sporting his black trench coat and Seto his white trench coat, Illidan merely shrugged. Seeing that the portal was not yet open, he frowned and pondered where it was.

He didn't get much time to ask though, for soon enough, Yugi showed up. Not long after him, Jaden, Alexis, and Chazz showed up together.

Checking his watch, Illidan saw that the time was drawing near. It was already 11:58 P.M., and the time the portal was to open was at midnight.

"Illidan, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Seto questioned aloud.

Throwing a small glare at his friend, Illidan coldly said "You have no need to ask me that question. Of course I'm going. I will find our daughter, no matter what."

"I'm just making sure. Once we go over to wherever this place is, there is no telling what could happen." Seto remarked calmly.

"It doesn't matter." Marie spoke up. "Our daughter could be in Hell for all I care, but we're going to bring her back, no matter what we have to do."

Nodding in agreement with his wife, Illidan added "We understand if none of you wish to go. The choice is your own."

"You don't have to ask me twice. I'm going, and we're going to find Jesse too!" Jaden piped up.

"And I won't let Jaden go alone. We'll all help find both Arya and Jesse, no matter what happens." Alexis added in.

"I can't let that Slacker and Alexis go by themselves. Someone has to chaperone them." Chazz muttered with a smirk.

Calmly, Zane said "You know why I'm going. If Syrus is in this world, I will find him, not to mention help return your daughter."

Smiling at Illidan and Marie, Yugi calmly said "You don't have to ask me to go. Arya is my goddaughter, and I would do anything for her."

"Like you have to ask me." Seto grunted. "This whole mess was started because I dragged you all in. I won't allow whoever this person or persons are to continue harming this school and the people I care about."

Nodding to the group, Illidan smiled and warmly said "Thank you all."

A beeping sound from several watches suddenly alerted the group that the time was finally midnight. With little warning, a blue flash of light appeared ten feet away from the group. The flash died down and revealed an ellipse like shimmering portal. The shimmering was weak though, and was flickering lightly.

Looking at the portal, Illidan suddenly realized what the flickering was. "The portal, it's weak! It could collapse in on itself if we tried to enter."

"So, how do we strengthen it?" Yugi asked with concern.

Thinking for a moment, Illidan realized something. "Wait, I bet our Duel Energy would strengthen it enough!" he exclaimed while slamming his right fist into his left open hand.

"It's worth a shot. After all, this whole area is full of Shadow Magic, meaning our monsters would be real and have power." Seto commented.

Nodding, Illidan declared "Let's do this then!"

All eight placed their decks into their Duel Disks, causing them to come to life. Drawing a card each, the eight slapped a card to their Duel Disks.

"Dark Magician of Chaos, come forth!"

"Tyrant Dragon, come on out!"

"Dark Magician, I summon you!"

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon, arise!"

"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, let's do it!"

"Cyber Blader, let's lend a hand!"

"VWXYZ-Dragon Cannon Catapult, get in there!"

"Cyber End Dragon, help them!"

Materializing before the eight were eight new monsters. The first was a mage with blue skin and shoulder length black hair wearing tight black leather armor with a mage's hat. Beside of blue skinned mage, a large orange-brown dragon with massive wings and a hood of skin surrounding it's head appeared. To the other side of the blue skinned mage, a male mage wearing purple robes and armor with cream colored skin, blue hair, and a stern look appeared. Next to the new mage, a white metallic looking dragon with massive wings roared into existence. Off to the side of the large orange and brown dragon, another creature, this one looking like a green and black skinned warrior with a white wing on it's left shoulder and a red dragon arm materialized. Beside of the warrior, a female warrior with female warrior with long calf length blue hair, wearing a skin tight pink, dark purple, and light purple suit appeared. Behind the group, a large combination creature made up of five machines that formed a large robot with two huge cannon barrels protruding from it's chest materialized. Beside of the large robot, a three headed gleaming silver machine, snake like dragon with three heads and massive wings appeared.

"Chaos Scepter Blast!"

"Tyrant Flame!"

"Dark Magic Attack!"

"White Lightning!"

"Infernal Rage!"

"Blade Strike!"

"Lightning Cannon!"

"Super Strident Blaze!"

With the eight commands filling the air, each of the monsters targeted the portal. Going first, the blue skinned mage fired a stream of black energy, followed next by the orange-brown dragon with a stream of flames. The purple armored mage fired a stream of green energy next, followed by the white metallic dragon with a blast of white energy. The green and black warrior soon fired a torrent of flames, while the female warrior began spinning, firing blades from her feet. The large robot aimed both cannon barrels and released two light blue streams of energy, while the large three headed machine dragon released a blast of white energy from each head, which merged to form a single one.

Together, the eight blasts of energy struck the portal, making it glow back to life. The flickering ended and it glowed brighter than before. After a minute, it finally took a brilliant blue color, signifying it had stabilized.

Finishing their blasts, the monsters stopped. All glanced back at their smiling masters and nodded before vanishing.

"Let's get through this thing before it destabilizes again!" Illidan called out.

The group all nodded and began moving towards the portal. Reaching out, Illidan took hold of Marie's hand, while Jaden did the same with Alexis. Leaping in, the eight vanished, leaving the shimmering portal behind. The portal began to slowly shrink away, but suddenly appearing before it was a warrior in full body light green armor with a dark green cape. Holding his hand out, the warrior shot a stream of wind at the portal, keeping it from destabilizing.

Sneering at this, Darren stepped out. "I don't know what the hell those eight are doing, but I'm not one to be left behind. I want that power that Kevin had, and I'll take it for my own." he commented with an evil grin.

Walking towards the portal, he glanced back at the green warrior and said "Raiza, return."

The green warrior nodded and vanished once more. Rushing forward, Darren leapt into the shimmering portal, vanishing from the world. The portal soon began to flicker and nearly collapsed when without warning, five streams of energy struck the portal, forcing it to stabilize once more.

Softly walking towards the portal, Kevin smirked. "I made it, just in time. Soon Master, I shall return to you." he quietly mumbled.

Glancing back at the five headed dragon that was firing five streams of energy at the portal, he said "Return to me now Five God Dragon."

The five headed dragon instantly vanished and Kevin walked into the portal, vanishing like the others had. Soon enough, the portal began flickering again before finally collapsing, vanishing once more from the Earth.

--

Sensing ten new entries into Dark World, Yubel smirked evilly. "They came after all, and they brought a few friends." she smugly commented.

"What do you expect? Illidan no doubt brought some backup. Without any doubt, the slave girl came, and I would only speculate that part of the others were from the Shadow Court, if not those meddling brats." Syrus commented.

Glancing at Syrus, the demoness sneered and replied "I sense one of them is my servant, Kevin. I see the boy is still mine. I sense one other though with no Shadow Powers, which makes me wonder who blundered into this world."

"Who cares. So long as they give off Duel Energy, it could be anyone." Syrus nonchalantly remarked.

Nodding, the demoness replied "I suppose so. I suspect they will give our former master plenty of trouble."

Evilly grinning, Syrus said "I hope so. The more that our former master fights, the more than likely we will come out on top."

Turning away from Yubel, he added "I'm off. I wish to find one of them. I can already sense him. He will be a good addition to what I have in stored for this world."

Lightly chuckling, Yubel calmly said "Very well, good luck. Perhaps our paths will cross again soon. For me, I must find Jaden. He is mine, and I will have him."

"Whatever." Syrus commented while walking away.

--

Laying on the ground, Jaden slightly moaned while cracking his eyes open. Glancing around, he saw Alexis near his own body, who was holding onto his hand for dear life.

Slightly smiling at her unconscious form, he released his grip and slowly stood up. Glancing up at the sky, he immediately saw that it was overcast, with thick dark clouds covering it up. The ground was made up of dark sand. Looking off in the distance, he saw some dark rocks, but for the most part, the area was barren.

"What a strange place…" Jaden murmured softly.

Seeing a set of jagged like rocks, he frowned. "Why does that look familiar?" he asked himself aloud.

"_Because, that is my home._" a dark voice said within Jaden's mind.

Eyes widening, Jaden glanced around and saw no one by Alexis still with him. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled deep into his mind. Looking around, he saw a dark figure in the corner of his mind.

"Who… who are you?" he halfheartedly asked.

A dark chuckle was heard from the figure, who revealed himself slowly. The figure wore dark black and gold medieval knight like armor with six tendril-like spikes, with two jutting out of the back of the armor and four off the armor's shoulders. On the back of the figure was a red cape that had a tall collar that surrounded the figure's head. The helmet had a shield on it that was down, hiding the face of the figure.

Reaching up, the figure pushed the visor up, revealing his face, making Jaden gasp in complete and utter shock. "You… you're me!" Jaden exclaimed in shock.

Darkly chuckling, the figure stared at Jaden with cold, dark golden eyes and replied "_Not quite. Unlike you, I'm not a weakling._"

Bristling with anger, Jaden fired back "I'm not weak!"

"_Really? I'm surprised you think that, after losing your friend like that._" the Jaden look-a-like said.

Realizing the double ganger was speaking of Jesse, Jaden clenched his fists tightly. With a light growl, Jaden harshly asked "What do you want!?"

"_Control, obviously._" the figure replied. "_You see, this world is where I belong. It is my world, and by returning here, I am stronger._"

"Hold on, how did you get inside of me!?" Jaden furiously asked.

Chuckling darkly, the look-a-like replied "_You are a curious one. I suppose I could explain it to you. You are my reincarnation. I was originally born here, in this world known as Dark World. I have been a part of you my whole life, feeding off the darkness of your soul. Until recently, I had barely any strength, but last year, when you entered the Shadows, I gained power. True, it was not enough power to take over your body, but enough nonetheless. And then there was three days ago, when you lost your friend. You now seethe with darkness in your heart, feeding me even more strength._"

Evilly grinning, the figure added "_Now with us returning to Dark World, my power has increased to the point that I'm strong enough to take over. Here, in this world, I am the king, thus I will rule it with an iron fist, starting with your body!_"

Unexpectedly, metal bars suddenly rose up from the ground in Jaden's mind, surrounding Jaden's mental image. He rushed forward, trying to get out, only to find the bars were solid and unbending. A top appeared on the cage, entrapping him completely.

Laughing manically, the look-a-like said "_Fool, you are now the prisoner of your own mind. Like I have for so many years, you will watch while I do what is necessary to take over this world._"

"No, stop this! Let me out!" Jaden snarled while beating on the bars.

Darkly chuckling, the figure said "_Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, staring with that wench you brought with you._"

Realizing the figure spoke of Alexis, Jaden felt his anger increase greatly. With renewed reason, he struggled against the bars, screaming "LEAVE ALEXIS OUT OF THIS!"

"_Fool, you are weak to love a woman like that. I will rid you of this petty attachment you have to her._" the figure darkly said.

Smirking evilly, the figure turned around to leave Jaden's mind, but stopped a few feet away from the cage. "_Remember this one thing Jaden before I leave. My name is Supreme King Haou, and I will conquer and rule this world._"

With that said, he vanished from Jaden's mind, leaving the young man screaming out "GET BACK HERE HAOU AND LET ME OUT!"

--

Slowly, Alexis's eyes fluttered open. The scent of sand filled her senses, making her frown. Glancing around, she noticed that she was laying on sand and that there was very little light. Slowly standing up, she glanced around and saw she was standing in a wasteland. Realizing Jaden wasn't laying next to her, she frantically looked around for him, but saw him not far away. He was looking off in the distance while a light breeze ruffled his clothing.

Softly smiling, she began walking towards him when she suddenly saw his body pulsate strangely. "Jaden?" she asked worriedly.

Getting no response, she walked closer, only to watch more pulsations coming off of his body. She was nearly to him when he suddenly turned around to glare at her with cold, dark demonic looking golden eyes.

"Jaden…" she gasped in shock. "What happened to you!?"

"Hello wench." Jaden coldly said with a deeper voice than normal.

Shaking her head and taking a step back, Alexis replied "What happened to your voice? That's not your voice, and why did you call me that!?"

"You are an irritating wench." Jaden coolly remarked. "I think it's time you vanished. But first, I must make an adjustment."

"Jaden…" Alexis began, but watched in surprise when suddenly Jaden's body glowed with a black aura.

The black glow shrouded his body completely for a few moments, hiding him from her view. A moment later, the glow dissipated, revealing a figure wearing black and gold armor, a red cape, and a helmet on their head with the visor down.

Reaching up, the figure opened the visor, revealing Jaden's face with the cold demonic golden eyes. "Much better." Jaden's dark, deep voice said.

Shaking her head rapidly, Alexis cried out "What did you did Jaden!? What has happened to you!?"

"You really are hopeless wench." Jaden darkly commented. "Can't you see, I am no longer the Jaden you knew! He is long gone. Only I, the Supreme King of this world, Haou, remains!"

Sneering, he added darkly "And you my dear, shall be my first victim."

Extending his left arm, a round surface flipped up and began rotating with several teeth on it. The rotating object looked like a buzz saw till finally it came to rest to create a Duel Disk with a deck already in it. Seeing the Duel Disk, Alexis took a step backwards hesitantly, with fear showing in her eyes.

"Are you afraid to duel me, wench?" Jaden cruelly asked. "Too struck with fear to even try to save the one you supposedly love?"

Bristling up with anger and determination, Alexis stepped back forward with a firm foot hold and powered up her own Duel Disk, saying "I won't abandon Jaden! I'll defeat you and save him!"

"Then come wench, and become my first victim!" Jaden declared while darkness encircled the two and Jaden's dark laughter filled the air.


	24. Chapter 24: Dark Alliance, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, this past weekend was fun. My mom, sister, her boyfriend, and my uncle all came in to visit my grandparents. We had a fun and I found out my sister is definitely moving nearby, which is great. Also, my sister, her boyfriend, and my mom are all going to the beach with us, which is awesome! My mate was somewhat relieved I think due that she'll know someone else while we're there, so fun fun. Other than that, not too much going on in my life. My dad, step mom, and step brother went on vacation this week, so I'm taking care of dad's (mine originally, lol) dogs. Plus I'm trying to get time to go paint my grandfather's (dad's side) roof. I may today, if it doesn't rain. I've said that for the last two days. It threatened yesterday, and the day before that I went over, but he didn't have what he needed to do it. I'm hopeful that today I'll get it done.**

**Writing wise, things on this story are moving once more, so no worries. Both me and ardee are working hard to get this story back up to snuff so we can post 2 chapters a week once more. It'll happen, so be patient please. As for **_**Another**_**, I've done a great deal of work on it, so it should stay on schedule I hope, hehe. As for what is the schedule for this story, right now, I'll be posting on Thursdays till we have enough chapters so that I can post twice a week once again. So, please bear with me and ardee for the time being. Thanks.**

**Last time, Illidan and friends made the journey to Dark World, where they were apparently separated. Jaden and Alexis landed together, with him waking first and taking a look around, only to awaken the evil within him called Haou, the Supreme King of Dark World. Haou quickly imprisoned Jaden within his own mind and took control of his body. Will Alexis be able to save Jaden, or will she be Haou's first victim?**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, Jaden turned evil already. The question is, can Alexis save him? We all know she cares for him, and he obviously cares for her, but will that be enough to save him? Hmm, true, I wonder if Haou will drive Jaden further into the darkness with the guilt of destroying Alexis. Heh, yes, things are looking good and bad I suppose. As for Bastion, he's not with them. Remember, Illidan elected to not take him or anyone else without Shadow Powers. I hope that clarifies that. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Heh, you knew Haou was going to make an entrance, eh? Clever, hehe. But yes, Haou has appeared rapidly, and took over in a different way than the show. Yeah, there were no sacrifices to make Jaden become the Supreme King. Haou was just strong enough at long last in Dark World to take over at last. Yep, a lot of travels are going to be made from here on. Thanks for being understanding about the one chapter a week thing. Yes, the updates will be on Thursdays. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's the reviews. Thanks to both of you for them. I'm done for today, so till next week, enjoy.**

**Chapter 24**

Sensing the prescience of four familiar figures and six others, a figure in dark robes frowned heavily. Six men, all in black robes and hoods drawn, except for the head of the table and the one next to him, sitting at the round table all looked to him, somewhat in surprise as well.

"How did those fools get to Dark World?" the figure spoke aloud.

One figure, who was the only other person with his hood not drawn, sitting in his seat on his feet and hunched over stuck his index finger in his mouth for a moment. He had dark robes on his body as well. His hair was a bluish black color and was a mess, with spikes sticking up everywhere. His eyes were dark as coal, and seemingly full of concentration.

After a moment, he finally said "I deduce that our former allies may have had something to do with this."

"Beelzebub, why would either that demoness or that other fool bother to bring these ten new people to this world?" a hooded figure nearby hotly asked.

Turning to the figure, Beelzebub calmly said "More than likely to give us trouble. I figure Yubel might have brought the one, which is Jaden Yuki, to take her revenge. Remember Satan, she ranted on and on about wanting him to pay for what he supposedly did. I'm not certain that she's not insane myself."

"Wouldn't surprise me." another figure commented.

"Enough of this." the head of the table declared. "We will swiftly deal with this intrusion into our affairs. Satan, Belphegor, Mammon, and Asmodeus, you four are to find and destroy Yubel first thing. She will be headed towards the descendant of Stormrage, without a doubt. Find her and Jaden Yuki, along with any others, and destroy them. Drain them of every drop of Duel Energy."

Four figures stood up and each bowed, saying "Yes Master Lucifer."

Smirking, Lucifer then turned to the two remaining figures. "Beelzebub, you will deal with Illidan. Deal with any of the others you find, but if you find Marie, do not destroy her. I want her alive."

Nodding, Beelzebub stood up in his hunched over state and left the table. Looking at the final member, Lucifer calmly said "Find Yugi Moto. He must be dealt with, and soon. Take care of any other ones you find as well, my old friend."

Standing, the figure nodded and bowed lowly, quietly saying "Yes Master Lucifer."

Sitting alone with no one else around, Lucifer darkly chuckled. "Foolish Illidan, it was foolish for you to come here to this world. You shall meet your fate here." he darkly commented.

--

Standing on a barren cliff overlooking the vast wasteland, Haou stared off into the distance towards the rocky shaped mountains. To him, this place was home and his future kingdom to rule. Smirking evilly, he remembered the tormented screams of Alexis when he had defeated her, how she had begged him to release Jaden.

"_What a foolish wench she was. As if I would relinquish this body after I worked so hard to reclaim control. Nothing in this world can stop me now, not even those fools that wish to conquer it._"

Brow furrowing, Haou frowned at the thought of the ones he had heard of. Upon defeating Alexis, he had wrestled control of the Dark World Army away from the powerful monster known as Brron, the supposed Mad King of Dark World. With their king laying in defeat, the army of fiend creatures bowed to his power. He selected several top commanders to stay near him and serve under him personally. They informed him of the happenings within Dark World, which had surprised him a bit.

"_They claim that these so called Fallen Angels have been fighting with the Dark World Army for quite some time. Foolish that they think they can compete with my army, but then again, it was run by a fool before. With me controlling the Dark World Army, I shall crush these so called Fallen Angels and create my empire._"

Hearing someone approaching, he coldly said "I asked to be left alone."

"Why Jaden?" a feminine voice asked.

Tossing a fierce glare over his shoulder at the owner of the voice, Haou scowled at the sight of the demoness that had been a thorn in his other side's side. Turning, he glared at the demoness with a hard look in his demonic golden eyes.

"Yubel, I have no time for your foolishness." he harshly said.

Clenching her fist, she spat back "You… you will pay for what you've done!"

Turning away to stare back over the cliff, Haou coldly said "My power is far beyond yours. Leave now and bother me no more."

"I know your true past, Supreme King." Yubel hissed. "I know all of your weaknesses. I have sacrificed so much for you, and I never got anything in return! I will have my revenge, **Haou**."

Whirling around to face the demoness, Haou cast a glare at her and replied "You are the weak one. You have allied yourself with those pathetic Fallen Angels. And yes, I know about those fools. Do you think that Lucifer is capable of completing his goals? Bah!"

A bit surprised on how informed Haou was, Yubel bit her lower lip, but didn't get a chance to speak, for Haou added "You are not worth my time, Yubel. Go back to your pathetic master, Lucifer, and tell him to send me a challenge next time."

Bristling with anger, she angrily fired back "Lucifer is not my master!"

"Really?" Haou asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes! Do you think I would actually ally myself with those fanatics? I will be the true ruler of the twelve dimensions, and I shall begin my conquest with Dark World by defeating not only you, but the Fallen Angels as well!" she declared.

Glaring at her coldly, Haou coldly asked "You wish to battle me?"

"In a way." she replied with a sneer. Her eyes suddenly became filled with a sadistic gleam while she said "But let's make this a bit more civilized, shall we?"

Shrugging, Haou calmly said "I see. You wish to duel."

Spreading out, the two glared at one another. Yubel's left arm suddenly began to transform as an alive like Duel Disk. The monster zone appeared to be made up of a bat's wing while the rest of her Duel Disk appeared to be somewhat alive still yet. A deck was already in place, showing her readiness to battle.

Putting his left arm out, Haou watched as the round circle on his arm pushed out, causing it to spin like buzz saw. A moment later, the saw stopped spinning, forming a black Duel Disk.

Without warning, a cackle cut through the air, making the two glance around. "What a lovely reunion this is…" a slippery voice said, dripping with sarcasm.

Eyes widening a fraction, Yubel bit her lower lip with her fangs and snarled out "Show yourself, Belphegor!"

"With pleasure." the voice playfully remarked.

Walking towards the pair, a man dressed in black robes, that stood about five foot six, appeared. His body wasn't well built, and his eyes peered out from under a hood. They were blood red and seemed to show his evil intentions. Sticking out of his left sleeve of his robes was a black Duel Disk with spiked edges.

Glancing off in a different direction, Haou grunted out "As to be expected of you cowards, you can do nothing alone."

Smirking at the black armored king, Belphegor slyly said "My, my, Supreme King, your powers of observation are high. Still, you have absolutely no sense of humor. Amazing, even Master Lucifer knows a good joke when he sees one. Relax a little."

Seeing Haou was ignoring him and staring off in another direction, Belphegor sighed and said "Very well then, it seems you want to get down to business. Satan, Mammon, Asmodeus!"

Walking out from behind a rock that Haou had been glaring at, three figures appeared. The first figure to come out was a tall man, who stood about six foot six, and had rock-like muscles covering his body. He was dressed in silver armor, with wild, white hair tumbling down to rest upon his shoulders, and had red eyes that were cold and empty, similar to how Haou's were. Unlike Belphegor, his head was uncovered, revealing skin that was covered with scars.

In a low hiss, Yubel said "Satan…"

The next figure to appear was similar in height to Belphegor and did not wear his hood to cover his face. His face was rather handsome, but his skin showed that he was an albino, but his eyes showed he was very alert and collecting information. His eye coloring was violet, and his semi-long black hair was held back in a ponytail.

With a disgusted look, he said with a voice dripping with pity "I didn't think you would betray us Yubel. What a shame."

"You thought wrong, Asmodeus." Yubel curtly replied.

The final figure had a long black beard, with him evilly grinning. His eyes were green and reflected nothing but pure greed. His hair was the color of brown and was pulled back in a small ponytail like Asmodeus's.

Glancing over the two, he said "Pathetic."

"The same could be said for you, Mammon." Yubel grunted out.

"So…" Belphegor began, but was cut off suddenly by Satan. "We are here to destroy whatever pathetic opposition you traitors may plan against our plans! Duel us now!"

Casting a glare at Yubel, Haou smartly said in a warning tone "Interfere and you will pay."

Returning his vision to the four before him, he calmly said "I accept. Such impudence will not be tolerated in my kingdom."

"Oh no…. No, no, no…" hissed Asmodeus. "We will duel the both of you together."

Cocking an eyebrow, Haou asked "And what makes you think I will listen to your ridiculous proposition? Delay any longer and I will crush you without bothering to duel."

Before Asmodeus could retort, Belphegor held up a hand to him and spoke up. "I know about you, Supreme King. You are a strategist to the core. Alone, you would not be able to stand up to our combined might. Odds of four against two are far better than four against one, wouldn't you say? What say you, Yubel?"

"I honestly don't care. I just want the four of you to be rotting in the ground." she stated with a smirk.

"Why you…" Satan began, but was hushed by Belphegor.

After only a moment, Haou calmly said "Very well, I will not let any prejudices interfere with my victory."

Sharply glaring at Yubel, he added "This alliance is only temporary. After this, you will fall victim to my strength."

Yubel was about to snap back, but Mammon interrupted, saying "Enough talk."

"Agreed." Asmodeus added while sneering.

Spreading out, the four took up positions before the two. Each of the four activated their Duel Disks, making them suddenly open up and shoot a blade out.

"Come and face us in the Shadows, Supreme King." Satan challenged as a dark fog began to roll in.

Paying no heed to the fog, Yubel and Haou stood firm, each knowing that a Shadow Game was now being played.

Quietly, all six picked up five cards. Crying out in unison, the six yelled "LET'S DUEL!"

"We'll begin." Yubel commented while picking up her sixth card. Staring at it, she smirked and said "You fools have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. I begin by summoning Sacrifice Lotus (0/0) in defense mode."

A strange monster looking green plant like creature that looked mostly human, with pink petals for hair that stuck up and was sitting on a lily pad appeared onto the field.

"I set one card and end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4000, Belphegor 4000, Satan 4000, Asmodeus 4000)

Drawing his new card, Haou calmly said "I play the spell card Dark Fusion, allowing me to fuse Elemental Hero Avian (1000/1000) and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (1200/800) to create my almighty Evil Hero Inferno Wing (2100/1200)."

Materializing onto the field first was a green furred warrior with white wings coming out of his back and wearing a mask. Beside of him, a female warrior wearing a skin tight red jumpsuit with long black fan like hair emerged. The two swirled together, causing an inferno to suddenly appear.

Emerging from the flames was a black winged female warrior and long wild green hair that stood up. She wore a mostly red body suit, with a pair of silver stripes appearing at her mid-thigh, a pair of black boots with two clawed toenails, large green paws with four sharp claws, although her human like fingers tuck out of the bottom of the claws, a red trailing like cape falling from her lower back, and finally a blue visor covering most of her face but her mouth.

"Soon you will face my monster's wrath for the heresy you have committed by going against the will of the king of this world. Next, I will summon Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)."

A small electrical storm without warning flared up, from which the blue and gold warrior with wing like structures on his back appeared.

"That will end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4000, Belphegor 4000, Satan 4000, Asmodeus 4000)

Smirking evilly, Mammon clutched his cards in one hand. He drew his card and said "Well then, I shall begin this little duel by playing the spell Graceful Charity. With it, I draw three cards, but toss out two."

Methodically, he snapped the top three cards off his deck and glanced at them. After a moment of deciding, he picked two from his hand and placed them into his Graveyard Slot.

"I am discarding two cards, but one happens to be Makyura the Destructor, which has a very special ability. On the turn it's discarded, I may play traps directly from my hand, so I shall begin by playing this one, Solemn Wishes. Now I gain 500 life points every time I draw a card. Next, I summon Spirit of the Pot of Greed (100/100) to my field."

Emerging onto the field was a green jar with blue trim on the rim of it and it's handle, and a small ring around it. The jar had an evil smile upon it, with scrunched up eyes. In the top of the pot, a small glowing spirit appeared peering out of it.

"I now play Pot of Greed! This spell allows me to pick up two new cards, but with Spirit of the Pot of Greed on the field, I may draw an extra card, giving me three cards."

Snapping off three new cards, Mammon sneered and said "I activate another trap from my hand, so go Cry Havoc. With this, I may remove a monster from my Graveyard in order to summon or set a creature. I remove from play Air Circulator in order to set a monster. Finally, I set one card face down." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 4000, Satan 4000, Asmodeus 4000)

Without a word, Belphegor drew, only to receive a growl from the flower creature. He looked at it resentfully and smartly said "Charming. I do have better things to do however than argue with a weed. I begin by playing the spell Cost Down, allowing me to discard a card to my Graveyard to lower all of my monsters levels by two for this turn."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Belphegor smirked evilly and said "And now I shall mow that weed down by summoning this, my Marauding Captain (1200/400)."

Materializing onto the field was a short blonde haired man wearing silver armor and a flowing red cape. In each of his hands, he had a sword drawn.

"Time for my captain to strut his stuff. Thanks to his summoning, I'm allowed to special summon another monster from my hand, so long as it's a level four or lower monster. It just so happens, by lowering my monsters' levels by two, I can now play this, my Dark Scorpion – Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)!"

Appearing beside of the caped warrior was a large hulking man with rippling muscles, a bald head, a scar over his face, squinted eyes, and had a black tattoo on his right arm of a scorpion. He wore a leather vest with red pants, and held a large mace like hammer in his two hands.

"Next I shall play the spell Allied Forces! This boosts the attack points of all Warrior Type monsters on my field by two hundred for every Warrior and Spellcaster Type that the four of us have in play. Right now, I count two, which means each one of my warriors gain four hundred attack points (1200 + 200 2 1600/400) (1800 + 400 2200/1500)."

Both warriors' bodies suddenly began to glow with a golden energy while their strength seemed to increase.

"I set one card face down and end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 4000, Satan 4000, Asmodeus 4000)

Quietly drawing, Satan glared at Yubel through his bangs and venomously spat out "It was foolish to betray us, Yubel! I will make you pay by summoning my Balrog (1000/1000)!"

Upon the card being slapped onto the Duel Disk, a crimson red large demon with horns that pointed downwards towards it's mouth and large black wings and a tail appeared. On it's back, a flaming red mane appeared while a flame red sword appeared in it's hand too.

"He gains 500 attack points for every Fire Attribute monster in play. Right now, there is him, as well as your Evil Hero Inferno Wing there Haou, which means his attack points go up by 1000 (1000 + 500 2 2000/1000)!"

The demon shrieked out loud and instantly exploded in an influx of flames. When the flames cleared, its strength had visibly risen.

"Next, I play a powerful spell known as Ties of the Brethren, which allows me to pay a grand in life points in order to summon two more monsters with the same attribute from my deck, as long as they are level four or lower. They cannot be used as tributes either, but I have no plans to. I will call out two more Balrogs (1000/1000)!"

Materializing onto the flames instantly were two more crimson demons, each flanking the one that was already present. Each of the three let out a small screech, making the flames on their body increase once more before finally dying down.

"With my two new additions, each of my Balrogs gains another 1000 attack points (3000/1000) (x 3). You will not stand before my wrath. I end." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 4000, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Slowly drawing, Asmodeus slightly smirked and said "I summon Red-Eyes Black Chick (800/500)."

Appearing on the field was a red egg. With no warning, it suddenly cracked open to reveal a baby black dragon head.

"I play my Chick's special ability. By sending it to the Graveyard, I can special summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!"

Vanishing from the field in a blaze of flames, a red glowing form suddenly appeared and took up the image of a large black skeletal like dragon with powerful clawed hands and feet, along with a mouth full of sharp teeth and large wings. Letting out a small screech, the dragon landed onto the field.

"I sacrifice this dragon in order to special summon my mighty Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon (2400/2000)!"

Glowing with a red aura, the black dragon burst into flames. Appearing from the flames was a larger version of the previous dragon, although it no longer had arms, but wings in their place. The dragon now had red lines outlining it's body, while it's body appeared to remain nearly the same. It let out a low growl, seemingly ready for battle.

"For each Dragon Type monster in my Graveyard, this dragon gains 300 attack points. I just placed two into my Graveyard, meaning it gains 600 attack points (2400 + 300 2 3000/2000)."

The dragon let out a gruff growl while it's strength increased, seemingly challenging the group to attack it.

Staring at the dragon, Haou let out a grunt, saying "Your pathetic dragon is equal in strength to Satan's Balrogs."

"Very perceptive Haou, but that will not save you. Next, I activate the spell Foolish Burial, allowing me to take a monster from my deck and place it into my Graveyard. My choice is Darkblaze Dragon, which means my dragon gains 300 more points (3000 + 300 3300/2000)."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Asemodeus sneered and said "Don't expect him to be there long though. I play the spell Monster Reborn, bringing my Darkblaze Dragon back (1200/1000) (3000/2000)."

Rising up onto the field in a spray of flames was a fiendish looking black dragon with rough scales. It's belly and wings were orange, and most of it's body was covered in long spikes with hooked clawed hands and feet.

"With the rise of my dragon from my Graveyard, it's effect activates. Once special summoned from my Graveyard, it's points double (1200 2 2400/1000 2 2000). Also, since it is a Fire Attribute monster, Satan's Balrogs get stronger (3500/1000) (x 3). With that, I shall end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 4000, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Glancing over her four opponents fields, the female demoness began to smirk evilly and chuckled lightly. Coldly, she said "Why I ever bothered allying myself with Lucifer, I'll never know. After all, you four flunkies were always the most pathetic of the lot. You could never do anything right for him."

"What's that!?" Satan heatedly snarled.

"Quiet Satan!" Belphegor hissed. "Let that thing play her games by herself. She's just trying to goad us into getting angry and losing this duel. Her foolish head games won't work."

Shrugging, Yubel evilly grinned and said "I need no head games to beat you four. It's time I showed you why I don't need Lucifer's help any longer."

Drawing her card, she pointed at the face down card she had, saying "I play the trap Dark Spirit Art – Greed. Thanks to this, I may sacrifice my Sacrifice Lotus in order to draw two cards from my deck. Of course, this can be negated if one of you happens to discard a spell card."

Glancing at their hands, all four clenched their jaws, with Belphegor grunting out "Just go."

Sneering while drawing two cards and her monster vanished, Yubel smirked evilly. "I play this spell, the card known as Triangle Force. This continuous spell is very special, because thanks to putting it into play, I may take any other copies I have of this card from my deck and put them into play. And that is exactly what I'll do."

Pulling her deck out, the demoness searched through it till she finally grabbed two cards from it and slid them into her Spell/Trap Slots. Placing her deck back, she grinned evilly at the four. Haou glanced at her and knew exactly what was about to happen. Still, he remained emotionless.

"I send all three of these spells to my Graveyard in order to summon this, the mighty Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000)!"

Without warning, all three cards glowed with a light blue glow. The three cards suddenly shot a beam of light up into the air, making each vanish. Lightning flashed dangerously in the sky suddenly, kicking up a foul wind. The four robed figures glanced up in the sky, each looking on emotionlessly.

Suddenly, a streak of blue lightning struck the ground behind Yubel, making the entire area shake from the impact. Appearing from the lightning was a large dull gold colored creature. It had massive thin skinned wings, thin like arms with large clawed tips for hands, glowing red eyes, two large horns on it's head, a horn on it's chin, a powerful tail, and long sharp claws and fangs. Opening it's jaws, the creature let out a terrifying roar, making the clothing of everyone flap wildly in the wind.

Biting his lip lightly, Belphegor looked at the powerful demonic creature. "_Lucifer warned us about the power of the Legendary Demons. I had heard of them but never seen them in action. Seeing this one is interesting. Still, our decks are built to handle these pathetic Legendary Demons and Haou's Evil Heroes._"

Being broken out of his thoughts, he heard Yubel yell "Hamon, attack that pathetic Spirit of the Pot of Greed with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Letting out another loud roar, the dull golden creature opened it's jaws, causing blue lightning to begin forming in them. In a single motion, it shot a beam of blue lightning at the weaker green pot creature, making Mammon's eyes widen a fraction.

"Fool, I will not allow you to harm my partner!" Belphegor cried out. "I activate my spell, Command Silencer! This card now negates your attack, but allows you to draw one card."

Appearing onto the field in front of the green jar creature was a totem pole like creature that instantly began letting out a wave of amplified sound. The sound easily dispersed the blue lightning, making Yubel grunt out.

Drawing her new card, Yubel examined it for a moment before grabbing two more cards from her left hand and placing them into her Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these three cards face down and end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 4000, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

With no hesitation, Haou snapped the top card off of his deck and glanced at Belphegor's field, who quickly realized he was his intended target. Darkly, Haou said "Your dissent in the face of the Supreme King will be punished."

"You are king no more!" Belphegor spat angrily.

Grunting out, Haou firmly said "Inferno Wing, incinerate his pathetic Marauding Captain with Inferno Blast."

Pulling her clawed hands together, blue flames appeared in between the female warrior's hands. Pointing her right palm at Belphegor, she sent spheres of blue flames raining towards the weaker blonde haired warrior, who cried out in pain while being roasted alive before shattering into millions of pixels. At the same time, the bald headed man grunted out while his strength decreased (2000/1500).

"When Inferno Wing destroys a monster, you lose life points equal to the highest statistic of your monster. Since it had 1600 attack points upon destruction, you lose that many life points."

Moving closer to Belphegor, the female warrior evilly grinned and held her hands out towards him. Blue flames erupted from her hands, covering him in flames and making him scream out in agony from the burst of flames. The flames soon ended, leaving a smoldering figure who was weakly standing.

"I will set one card face down before ending my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 4500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Throwing an irritated look at Haou, Mammon murmured in his mind "_What an idiot. He's left his two weak monsters wide open to our own monsters. And they call him the __**Supreme**__**King**__._"

Drawing a card quietly, Mammon glanced at it and looked over his hand. Smiling evilly at the sight, he mentally said "_Two out of five already, and this is only my second turn. This is good. Those two fools will soon feel the wrath a true god_."

"First, I gain 500 life points thanks to Solemn Wishes. Next, I activate my face down trap, Appropriate! Now, I draw two cards whenever either of my opponents draws outside of their Draw Phase. Watch as I benefit once again with an extremely rare spell card, Midnight Revival! Yubel, you may draw one card, while I gain 3000 life points!"

Quietly, Yubel drew her card while Mammon's life point counter rose greatly. "And don't forget, I gain a further 500 life points thanks to Solemn Wishes. Also, if you were not aware, the icing on the cake is that not only does Appropriate allow me to draw two more cards, I gain more life points as well!"

Throwing a glance at Mammon, Haou frowned lightly. "_Hmm, he's done nothing but draw nine cards thus far really this duel. He seems to be focusing on fortifying his life points, but his main focus is his drawing speed. Yes, I understand now what he is up to. If he continues though, he may deck himself out first._"

Returning his attention to the duel, he heard Mammon say "I set two cards face down and switch my Spirit of the Pot of Greed to defense to end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 4000; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Furiously snapping off a card, Belphegor snarled out "It's time for my revenge! I play the spell Card of Demise, allowing me to draw till I hold five cards."

Grabbing five new cards, he slightly smirked. "I call upon the power of my Don Zaloog (1400 + 200 2 1800/1500) (2200/1500)!"

A muscular man with nearly shoulder length grey hair, a golden eye patch, a brown-grey sleeveless shirt with red pants, a strap that went around his body full of bullets, and a pair of guns on his hips appeared with a small yell.

"Next I play a powerful spell known as Mustering of the Dark Scorpions. When Don Zaloog is face up on the field, I can special summon all Dark Scorpions in my hand. I only have one, but here he comes. Arise Cliff the Trap Remover (1200 + 200 3 1800/1000) (2000/1500) (2400/1500)!"

A man in red trousers with a brown vest top appeared. He wore horn-rimmed glasses, and held a nasty knife in one hand.

"Gorg, launch an attack against Evil Hero Inferno Wing with Hammer Hammer!"

Rushing forward, the bald man with his large hammer pulled it to the side, preparing to swing it. Arriving in front of the female winged warrior, the man swung his hammer heavily at the female warrior, slamming it straight into her side, making her cry out in pain before shattering.

"I apologize to you Satan for robbing your Barlogs of 500 points (3500 – 500 3000/1000) (x 3), but at least I rid the field of that nuisance. Next, thanks to Gorg's effect, I can now return a monster on your field to the top of your deck, so Sparkman is out of here."

The blue and gold armored warrior instantly vanished from the field and the card glowed for a moment before flashing to the top of Haou's deck, who remained still and unyielding.

"Now, I will finish you off by having both of my Dark Scorpions attack you directly!"

Drawing his twin guns from his holsters, the man with silver hair fired twin shots at Haou while the other man threw his dagger at him. Just before they could hit him, the twin attacks suddenly stopped due that they ran into a dark wall of what looked to be air.

In a monotone voice, Haou pointed at his face up trap and said "Dark Wall of Air blocks all direct attacks for this turn."

With a grunt, Belphegor muttered "Fine, I set a card and end my turn." (Yubel 4000, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)


	25. Chapter 25: Dark Alliance, Pt 2

**Greetings to everyone! Heh, I just thought I'd try a new way to enter, hehe. Anyways, real life isn't too bad. I'm due to be on a trip tomorrow at the home office for the company I work for, which is cool, although I hate leaving my mate behind, but it has to be done. Other than that, real life is about normal. Just staying busy like always.**

**Writing wise, I've been getting a bit done on this story, which is good. The same is true for **_**Another**_**, but I'm to a point on it where it's just hard to think on it. So no worries on updates, we'll be having them for a while.**

**Ah, the reason I'm updating a day early is due to my trip on Thursday. I'll be on the road for four hours, and then I wouldn't be able to update till that night, so I thought I'd do this early instead. I'm sure no one minds I did it early, hehe.**

**Last time, Yubel confronted Haou, only to have their reunion interrupted by four of the Fallen Angels. Now a four vs. two duel has ensued, with Yubel bringing out one Legendary Demon and Haou seemingly well prepared with his Evil Heroes, but the Fallen Angels appear to have many different strategies also. Will one side or the other win without any casualties, or will both sides lose someone?**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Haou's back and looking for blood in the form of the Fallen Angels. Lol, yes, it wasn't as if Illidan hadn't screwed everyone up by dragging them to Dark World, they now have another evil to deal with. True, Illidan is wanted on both sides, hehe. Glad you're looking forward to these chapters. I'm kind of as well, seeing how the other parts of the story were building up to this. True, there are lots of potential for terrific duels within Dark World. It's cool about not reviewing recently. It happens. Glad you liked the chapters, and that we twisted the storyline from the show around into a new form. Yep, we figured dragging Haou out early would be so much better than watching Jaden have his soul tortured till it twisted into the form of Haou. Yeah, the pairing of Haou and Yubel in a duel is quite interesting, and then there are the four Fallen Angels, who appear to be very serious about defeating both. Illidan will have some stiff competition as well, and just so you know, that OC I made using your deck is coming soon, so stay patient with me. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Yes, this part of the story is somewhat based off of the third season of GX, but not quite either. It has it's own plotline to go by, so it's not focusing in on Jaden, Yubel, or anyone in particular. Ah, I didn't know that was the name of the card. I actually didn't write this duel. That credit goes to ardee, who did a wonderful job on this duel. Thanks for letting me know, and for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: True, it has been a while, but no worries. Thanks about the chapter, and yeah, a four vs. two duel is interesting. Heh, all that originality on this duel came from ardee. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Lol, yes, the six person duel is slightly confusing. Not as bad as the ten way duel I had in **_**ToP**_**, but still confusing nonetheless. Heh, yes, it seems that one might be using Exodia. Yes, Yubel still has the Legendary Demons under her command. Yeah, there are so many objectives out there for everyone. You have Haou wanting dominance over Dark World, Yubel wanting all control of the twelve dimensions, and then the mysterious intentions of the Fallen Angels. It's just crazy, lol. But yes, so many evil groups are after something. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you all four of you for your comments and questions. I enjoyed answering them.**

**At any rate, I need to go, so I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 25**

Wordlessly, Satan drew his card and said "Revenge is nigh. But first, I will add another card to my growing army of mighty monsters. I call upon the strength of the Ultimate Baseball Kid (500/1000) (3000 + 500 3500/1000) (x 3)."

A small child appeared on the field, strangely small among the large crimson demonic creatures. He wore a red baseball uniform, complete with a cap, as well as a large baseball club. He gave it an experimental flick before settling into a batting position.

"This monster starts out weak, but gets rather strong. For every Fire Type monster on the field, other than himself, he gains 1000 attack points. This means that it gains a grand total of 4000 attack points, thanks to my three Balrogs as well as Asmodeus's Darkblaze Dragon (500 + 1000 4 4500/1500)!"

The batter instantly burst into flames, making him look at his hands in surprise. He then resumed a determined look.

Pointing angrily at Yubel, he snarled "He far surpasses your pathetic Legendary Demon! Attack with Super Baseball Smash!"

A ball of fire burst into flames in front of the kid, who grinned great big. Swinging his bat hard, he slammed the ball into the air and sent it flying towards the dull golden creature.

Scoffing, Yubel simply said "I will not let Hamon fall so easily. I activate my face down spell Book of Moon. Book of Moon forces Hamon into face down defense, meaning you have to retarget my monster."

Letting out a small roar, the golden dragon creature vanished from the field and became a horizontal card image.

"Why on are you flipping it face down, especially when you know it will be destroyed still yet!?" Satan questioned.

Smirking, Yubel muttered "You'll see."

The flaming ball continued on and slammed into the card image, shattering it instantly to reveal the demonic, dull yellow wyvern.

"I activate my next face down spell, Mirage Magic! With this spell, I can negate your attack and add your pathetic creature's attack points to my life points." Yubel declared boldly.

The flaming sphere was blocked by a translucent shield that reflected many faucets of light and sent the energy hurdling to the demoness's Duel Disk, making her life point counter rise greatly.

Lowly growling, Belphegor muttered "I see her strategy. You purposely switched your Hamon to defense mode so it could be flipped to face up defense mode. Now it's effect prevents us from selecting another attack target. Lucifer was right about you. You are rather intelligent. It's a shame that you betrayed us, for we now must crush you."

Sneering at the four, the female demon said directly to Satan "Continue your move, by all means."

"I can do nothing else." Satan growled out. (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Drawing a new card, Asmodeus grunted out "You will now feel the full strength of my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon! I play Graceful Charity, which allows me to draw three cards at the cost of discarding two."

Grabbing two new cards, he examined them for a moment before placing two into his Graveyard Slot, saying "I discard Felgrand Dragon and Luster Dragon #2, granting my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon more power (3600/2000). I'm not done yet though, for I play the spell card Gift of the Martyr! By sacrificing a monster on my field, I can add its attack points to the attack points of any other monster on my field. I'll sacrifice Darkblaze Dragon to my Red Eyes Darkness Dragon, boosting it's power (3600 + 300 + 2400 6300/2000)!"

The smaller black and orange dragon instantly vanished from the field while the larger black dragon roared loudly as it's strength increased.

"_Not bad._" Haou commented in his mind.

"Blow away that pathetic excuse for a dragon now! Darkness Inferno Rage!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws and prepared to fire a blast of hot ruby colored energy at the golden dragon.

Seemingly uncaring, Yubel yawned and pointed at her face down card, saying "What a pointless move. I play my trap, Nightmare Wheel, stopping your attack and keeping your monster from attacking. Oh yes, and during my Standby Phases, you lose 500 life points so long as your creature is on the field."

"No!" Asmodeus gasped while his dragon's attack stopped powering up. A strange wheel like contraption, covered in heads of demons, pulled the dragon into it. Clenching his right fist tightly, he snarled "Damn you, Yubel!"

Smirking evilly, she laughed and said "Damnation is my will."

Still clenching his fist tightly to the point his finger nails cut into his palms, Asmodeus ground out "I end." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 9000, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 4000)

Picking up a new card with a smirk, Yubel calmly said "It is time to pay the piper Asmodeus. Since it's my Standby Phase, Nightmare Wheel's ability activates, draining you of 500 of your life points."

Instantly, Asmodeus doubled over in pain while a red aura surrounded him, making yelp from the pain coursing through his body.

"Enjoying the pain?" she enquired pleasantly. Asmodeus only glared at her, only to receive one back.

Shrugging, she continued on, saying "I summon Kuriboh (300/200)."

Materializing instantly onto the field was a small brown fur ball creature. It had violet eyes and short stubby green arms and legs. It let out a "Kree" sound, only to be ignored.

"Next, I play the spell Multiply. This allows me to summon to my field Kuriboh Tokens (300/200) equal to the number of open monster zones I have. Since I have four, I'll bring out four new tokens, all in defense."

Shattering, the fur ball creature vanished, only to have four new identical ones reappear in it's place.

"I don't see the point of all this! All you did was summon four weaklings to the field next to your already powerful Hamon." Belphegor argued.

Grinning evilly, Yubel smugly said "Allow me to dumb it down for you then. I need three Fiend Type monsters out to make a sacrifice for a monster I have. And since I now have three, I sacrifice three of my tokens to special summon my second Legendary Demon, Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000)!"

Realization and fear instantly dawned on Belphegor's face as suddenly, three of the fur ball creatures vanished. A dark purple fog soon sprung up from the ground. Coming out of the fog slowly were two massive blue wings that were made up of see-through material, a pair of large blue horns, and large sharp talon like claws attached to huge purple hands. The fog soon lifted, revealing the large blue and purple creature, who let out a loud roar. It was as tall as the yellow dragon beside of it, if not a little taller.

Glancing at the towering fiend, Haou smirked in his mind. "_Yubel summoned an impressive monster. Perhaps I've underestimated her. Still, she is no match for me._"

Staring at the huge fiend, the four figures each shuffled nervously. Belphegor could feel the fear emanating from his other companions, knowing that like himself, they were not prepared to face two of the Legendary Demons at once quite yet.

Smirking at the fear showing on the four faces before her, Yubel calmly said "I switch Hamon back into attack mode. And now, it's time to get rid of one of you. Farewell Belphegor! Raviel, clean your claws with that pathetic Cliff the Trap Remover! Attack with Shimmering Slash!"

The blue creature roared loudly and pulled back his powerful arm. It's claws immediately began to glow bright white as it made a sweeping motion across the thief's body, who had no time to scream out in pain. A huge explosion ensued, rustling all four's robes and sending out a cloud of smoke around Belphegor.

"One down, and three to… WHAT!?" Yubel screamed upon seeing Belphegor still standing in the smoke.

Belphegor let out a ragged cough, but stood tall nonetheless. Growling lowly, Yubel scanned the field and saw that a new trap was face up on Mammon's field, who was smirking evilly.

"At the last moment, I activated my trap, Hallowed Life Barrier, allowing me to discard a card and reduce all the damage you do to Belphegor this turn to zero. You see Yubel, against the four of us, you can't win, even with your pathetic Legendary Demons!" Mammon boasted.

Glaring angrily at Mammon, she angrily spat back "We will see. Since you were so foolish as to help Belphegor avoid my wrath, I will punish you instead! Hamon, lay waste to his face down monster with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Letting out a massive roar, the golden creature opened it's jaws. Blue lightning began forming within it's jaws instantly, licking the outsides of his lips. In a flash, the dragon fired it's blast straight at the card image, which shattered easily. Appearing from the shattering was a small orange fur ball creature with three eyes and short stubby green arms and feet. The creature was easily fried to a crisp from the lightning, leaving Mammon covering his face.

"Thank you, you foolish demon, for destroying my Sangan (1000/600), for now I may add a monster from my deck to my hand with 1500 or less attack points. I pick this, my Left Leg of the Forbidden One (200/300)!"

Yubel could hardly suppress a strangled gasp from her lips, but angrily shot back "That matters little to me! Besides, Hamon's effect kicks in now! When he destroys a monster in battle, you take an additional 1000 points of damage!"

Striking down from the sky suddenly was a blue lightning bolt that struck Mammon hard, making him scream out in pain and fall to one knee. Wisps of smoke poured off of his robes while he panted lightly. After a moment, he forcefully stood back up and glared at the demoness.

Sneering, he said "Your Legendary Demons are truly powerful Yubel, but not even they, nor the Egyptian Gods themselves, can ever stop the mighty Destroyer! It conquers all!"

Glaring for a moment, the demoness said nothing for a moment till she finally slid a card into her Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I set a card and end my turn." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 7500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Slowly, Haou drew his next card. Glancing over at the two large demons, he smirked in his mind. "_With Hamon and Raviel out, those fools will be more timid, most likely, unless they are truly idiots and wish to attack Yubel's monsters. Of course, it's not like Yubel would defend me if I got into trouble. No doubt she'd let me be carted off to the Shadows. Still, I have no plans to save her worthless hide either. I can take all four of these fools down if necessary._"

Breaking out of his thought, he slapped a monster to his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200) in defense."

In a spray of bubbles, a man in a blue costume outfit with a long white cape, light blue boots, gloves, shoulder pads, and a helmet that covered all but his mouth. On his right wrist was a small gun attached that looked like the end of a water hose, and on his back was a set of water tanks. He instantly took a kneeling position and crossed his arms.

"Since Bubbleman is the only card on my field, I draw two cards."

Snapping off two cards, Haou examined the cards. Grabbing another card from his hand, he showed the three cards and said "I activate Dark Fusion and fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) with Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) to summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem (2400/1500)."

A small electrical storm without warning flared up, from which the blue and gold warrior from earlier in the duel reappeared. Beside of the blue and gold warrior, a stone like large creature with yellow painted feet and edges of shoulder pads, with dark grey filling the rest of his body in, except for his red domed head and a small black circle that was around his neck appeared.

Once the two were fully on the field, they began swirling together. From the swirling, several bolts of electricity began flashing around a dangerous looking new creature. It was a large, sleek, mostly blue-green armored creature, with purple stripes on it's arms, chest, and legs. On it's chest was a large red half sphere, which was also on each of the creature's knuckles. Golden lightning bolt like blades ran off the creature's shoulders, while it also had purple spikes sticking up. The creature's head was covered with a blue glass like visor, except for his mouth. His fingers were massive and golden colored as well. Letting out a small roar, the creature glared out at the other monsters on the field.

"I play Lightning Golem's special ability, allowing me to destroy one creature on the field per a turn. I choose Satan's pathetic Ultimate Baseball Kid!"

Raising an armored fist to point at the child creature, the blue-green warrior shot a beam of blue sizzling electricity at the child. The child tried to swing his bat at the blast, only to have his body impacted by the entire bolt, frying him till finally he exploded, leaving nothing behind.

Growling lowly, Satan angrily snapped out "Your Lightning Golem is still too weak to combat my Balrogs (2500/1000) (x 3). You have wasted your turn!"

"Not quite." Haou stoically replied. Glaring at the last monster on Mammon's field, he pointed at the green jar and said "Lightning Golem, fry that creature with Sizzling Voltage!"

Raising his right fist once more, the blue-green armored warrior released a stream of white lightning from it's palm at the green jar creature. The jar screamed out before shattering, leaving Mammon alone on his field.

"I set this card and end my move." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 7500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Drawing a new card, Mammon glanced at his hand. "_I have three pieces of the Destroyer in my hand now. All I need are two more, and then I shall send these two to the Shadows for their transgressions!_"

Looking up, he slid the new card he had into his Spell/Trap Slot. "First, I gain 500 life points since I drew a card, compliments of Solemn Wishes. Next, I activate the spell Painful Choice. This is a simple card. I pick five cards from my deck and show one of you the five. You must choose a card that I keep while the others go to my Graveyard."

Grabbing his deck, Mammon sorted through it till he finally found the five he wanted to use. Slapping all five onto his Duel Disk to show the pair, he said "Supreme King, why don't you select one for me."

Glaring at the five cards, Haou weighed out the possibilities. "_He selected two Good Goblin Housekeeping, Hane Hane, Hade Hane, and Grave Squirmer. Three of those cards give him the ability to draw new cards, but two return monsters to his hand. Why bother? Hmm, perhaps it's better to force him into a mistake._"

"I pick your Grave Squirmer." Haou finally answered.

Sneering, Mammon nodded and picked up the single card and added it to his hand. Grabbing the other four, he placed them into his Graveyard Slot, where they were sucked in one by one.

Mammon confidently said "I appreciate your help, Haou. I activate my face down trap, Good Goblin Housekeeping, allowing me to draw cards equal to the number of this trap in my Graveyard, plus one. Since I just sent two there, I get three cards. Of course, I must send one card to the bottom of my deck when I'm done, but no matter. Not to mention, since I'm drawing, I gain another 500 life points due to Solemn Wishes."

Drawing three new cards, Mammon examined them and finally picked on, placing it to the bottom of his deck. Sliding two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots, he said "I set these two cards and set this monster to end…"

"You're not getting off that easily." Yubel interrupted. "Whenever you set or summon a monster, Raviel allows me to special summon a Phantasm Token (1000/1000), which I'll put in defense."

Materializing next to the brown fur ball creature was a miniature version of the large blue and purple creature, who had it's arms crossed.

Shrugging, Mammon simply said "Whatever, I still end my turn." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1900, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Glancing at his field before drawing, Belphegor frowned. "_I only have Don Zaloog and Gorg to fend off any attacks. Against the Legendary Demons, I'm no match, but the Supreme King is wide open. I will get rid of him, no matter what!_"

Drawing his card, Belphegor said "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Grabbing to cards, he smirked and continued on, saying "I would never sacrifice Don Zaloog, so instead I'll sacrifice Gorg to summon Freed the Matchless General (2300 + 2 200 2700/1700)!"

In a flash, the bald man vanished while a tall blonde warrior in shining armor stood next to the thief warrior. He had long hair and a beard, and a small band covered his forehead.

"Thanks to summoning your monster, I get another Phantasm Token (1000/1000) in defense." Yubel informed while another blue and purple miniature creature appeared onto her field.

Shrugging, Belphegor replied "No matter. Destroy the Supreme King's Lightning Golem with Strategic Slash!"

Drawing his sword that was at his side, the blonde haired warrior charged forward with his sword raised. The blue-green armored warrior quickly raised it's left hand to block the attack, causing the blonde haired warrior's sword to send sparks out while the sword bit down into the blue-green warrior's armor, which seemed to be giving way to the sword.

"I activate my face down trap Magical Trick Mirror." Haou declared, making Belphegor nervously glance at the black armored young man. "This allows me to take a spell card from any of your Graveyards and use it as my own immediately. I choose Asmodeus's Gift of the Martyr, which I play now. Now I can sacrifice Bubbleman and give his attack points to Lightning Golem (2400 + 800 3200/1500). Looks like your warrior bit off more than he could chew for this turn."

Vanishing from the field, the man in blue armor with a white cape turned into a golden dust that floated over to the blue-green armored warrior. The warrior's body instantly glowed with a golden aura, giving him new strength. Throwing an angry glare at the knight that was attacking him, the blue-green armored warrior threw the warrior back and turned it's palm towards the shocked blonde haired warrior. Lightning instantly poured out of his palm, striking the weaker warrior hard, who could only cry out in pain before exploding from the intense electricity.

Growling fiercely, Belphegor yelled "Damn it! I switch Don Zaloog (1600/1500) to defense and end my turn!" (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Glancing at the six monsters on the field, Satan drew his card. "_Those fools are going to lose this duel, I swear it! I will pummel that pathetic Lightning Golem into nothingness, leaving the supposed Supreme King wide open for me to beat him._"

"Balrog, destroy that pathetic Evil Hero…"

"STOP, YOU IDIOT!" Asmodeus snapped out.

Turning to glare at his comrade, Satan fired back "Do not presume to give me orders Asmodeus! I will win this duel my way, so stay out of this!"

"IDIOT!" Asmodeus yelled. "Have you no thought of what will happen if you defeat the Supreme King!? He will be gone, yes, but you'll be wide open next turn to Yubel, who has two Legendary Demons! They'll carve your Balrogs up easily and leave you with no life points. If you lose, you will be lost to the Shadows forever! There is no need to take such chances here, especially against such powerful opponents."

Pondering on Asmodeus's words for a moment, Satan took a deep breath. Mulling over in his mind the best course of action, he grunted out "Very well, I switch the three of my Balrogs to defense and end." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Looking his field over, Asmodeus ground his teeth together. "_Damn that Yubel. Thanks to her Nightmare Wheel, my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon is trapped. It has 3900 attack points, nearly enough to contend with her own Legendary Demons, but with it trapped, I'm a sitting duck. And then there is the fact that I lose 500 points during her Standby Phase. Not to mention, the others are growing ununified. Soon they'll lose focus if we don't pull it together. I must free my dragon and take back control!_"

Drawing his card, Asmodeus grunted out with irritation. "I play another Foolish Burial, and send from my deck a second Red-Eyes Black Dragon to my Graveyard."

Sifting through his deck, he selected the proper card and placed it into his Graveyard Slot. Finishing, he placed his deck back in it's slot and said "My dragon now gains another 300 attack points (4200/2000). Unfortunately, I must end my turn." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 8500, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3500)

Sneering at the four before her, Yubel drew her card. Pointing at her face up trap card, she said "To begin with, Asmodeus, you lose 500 life points thanks to my Nightmare Wheel!"

Doubling over in pain while a red aura surrounded him, Asmodeus let out a small grunt of pain, but slowly recovered.

"Now that I've had my fun torturing Asmodeus, I activate the spell Token Festival. Thanks to this card, for every token I get rid of, I am allowed to draw a card. Right now, I have three, so I sacrifice them all and draw three cards."

Drawing three new cards, the demoness examined them for a moment till she heard a soft chuckle. "Foolish Yubel, by playing that card, my Appropriate activates, allowing me to draw two new cards also, while Solemn Wishes grants me an additional 500 life points." Mammon informed while grabbing two new cards.

Shrugging at him, she replied "It matters not to me. I activate the spell Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back Mammon's Makyura the Destructor (1600/1200) to my field."

A tall metal covered creature in rigid purple armor, with a set of long three clawed gloves on it's hands, with an interesting helmet that had axe like blades on the sides and a single golden eye on it's face appeared.

"Now then, I play Graceful Charity. As you know, this allows me to draw three cards, then toss out two."

Picking up another three cards, she smirked evilly and tossed two into her Graveyard while Mammon drew two more cards as well and his life points increased once more.

"By all means Yubel, continue to help me if you wish." Mammon smugly remarked.

"Feh, as if I care." Yubel commented. "I sacrifice Makyura to Raviel, Lord of the Phantasm, to activate his special ability! Raviel now gains attack points equal to Makyura's original score till the end of the turn (4000 + 1600 5600/4000)."

Glancing down at the metal covered warrior, the tall blue and purple creature reached down and snatched up the warrior, who squirmed within his grip. Squeezing tighter, the blue and purple creature's hand began glowing with a white energy till finally the squirming warrior vanished and the white aura covered the towering creature.

"Since Makyura was sent to the Graveyard once more, I am allowed to activate his effect. I play the trap Delta Barrier from my hand! And now that I've played this trap, it's effect kicks in, allowing me to play however many Delta Barriers I have in my Graveyard to the field. I just tossed out two thanks to Graceful Charity, so now I have three!"

Sneering at the four, she evilly said "Playtime is over. I send all three Delta Barriers to my Graveyard to summon my final Legendary Demon! Rise up Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (?/?)!"

Without warning, a large towering burst of lava went shooting into the air. Out from the tower of flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the flames vanish once more and the ground shake from the power of it.

Seeing the fear creeping forth in her four opponent's eyes, she smartly said "For each continuous trap card in my Graveyard, he gains 1000 points. Currently, there are three in there, meaning he gains 3000 points (3000/3000)."

The sinuous monster gave a horrible screech as it's strength increased greatly.

"No… No way!" Asmodeus declared in shock.

"Oh, there is a way." Yubel smugly remarked. "I now have all three Legendary Demons on the field. Of course, with Uria on the field, that does help Satan's pathetic creatures out (3000/1000), but that matters little to me. For now, at least one of you fools is going to bite the dust before the end of this turn. And…"

Pausing for a moment to point at Mammon, she declared "I can think of no better a candidate than you!"

Seeing Mammon gulp, she evilly grinned and continued on, saying "First, I activate Uria's effect. This allows me to destroy one face down spell/trap card on the field. Your left face down card looks interesting there Mammon, so Uria, obliterate it!"

Roaring loudly, the red dragon creature sent out shock waves at the face down card, forcing it to flip up and reveal a trap card.

"My Magic Cylinder…" Mammon lowly grumbled.

Smirking, Yubel commented "Gone but not forgotten. Hamon, destroy that face down with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dull gold dragon opened it's jaws to reveal blue lightning forming within it's mouth. Quickly, it spat a beam of hot searing lightning at the card image. The image was struck hard and shattered instantly, revealing a sinister looking mummy with small bat wings on it's back and brown tattered shorts. The creature was instantly incinerated, leaving Mammon to cover his face from the explosion.

Coughing lightly from all the smoke in the air, Mammon growled out "You destroyed my Grave Squirmer (0/0), whose special ability went off when you destroyed him. Now I get to draw one card, plus gain 500 life points thanks to Solemn Wishes."

"You'll need them, because now Hamon deals you an additional 1000 points of damage for destroying your monster." Yubel informed.

Lightning flashed in the sky dangerously above Mammon, who shifted nervously. With little warning, the lightning poured from the sky, striking him hard and making him scream out in pain before falling to one knee.

Sneering, Yubel pointed at the figure on one knee and declared "Raviel, direct attack him with Shimmering Slash!

Pulling back it's massive clawed hand, the large blue and purple creature stepped forward, sending it's sharp clawed hand with blue glowing claws at Mammon, whose eyes were wide open.

Hurriedly, he stood and pointed at his face down card, crying out "I play the trap Attack Guidance Armor! This trap allows me to redirect that attack at any other monster on the field, so I pick Satan's Balrog!"

Satan could hardly suppress a gasp of shock when suddenly a set of silver armor appeared onto one of his crimson demons. The blue and purple creature instantly redirected it's sharp clawed hands at the newly armored creature, running it through with it's long claws. The crimson demon screamed out and clawed at the claws jammed through it's chest, but it soon exploded, leaving only two crimson demons behind.

"HOW DARE YOU!" roared Satan, pointing a finger at Mammon, who only shot a glare back. "YOU LET MY BALROG BE DESTROYED (2500/1000) (x 2)!"

Mammon's eyes met Satan's and he hissed back "You fool, I would have lost nearly all my life points if I hadn't of redirected the attack. Besides, your creature was in defense, so you lost no points. If we hope to win against Yubel and the Supreme King, I must survive till I draw the final piece of the great Destroyer. Against three Legendary Demons, we are outmatched!"

Still glaring at Mammon, Satan finally turned away and looked at his two remaining crimson demons. Neither had many attack points left, leaving him in a tight spot.

Not taking Mammon's words lightly, Belphegor coldly said "We do not need your pathetic cowardly strategy to win Mammon."

Gasping in shock and glancing at his partner, Mammon was about to reply when Asmodeus added "Do not presume that you are stronger than any of us. Even without your so-called destroyer, this duel will end with us winning."

"And do not think that Lucifer will be happy with this arrogance of yours." Belphegor warned. "If you choose to remain so arrogant, you may find your Duel Energy given to our purpose."

Mammon instantly paled upon Belphegor's mention of Lucifer. He grunted softly and glanced at the three towering creatures before him. Glancing back at his hand, he smirked once more. "_The Legendary Demons power is truly terrifying, but it is nothing to the true power of the great Destroyer! I will win this duel on my own, if necessary!_"

"Sorry to interrupt boys, but I was in the middle of something." Yubel spoke up, making all four look to her. "You see, Uria hates to not have his own fun, so go, attack Mammon with Hyper Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the red snake like dragon opened it's jaws and shot a stream of heated flames at Mammon. The flames scorched him, making him cry out in pain and fall down to both knees, panting heavily.

"I think I've punished you enough for now. I end my turn." (Yubel 8500, Haou 3700; Mammon 6000, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)


	26. Chapter 26: Dark Alliance, Pt 3

**Hey gang! Well, not too much new in my life. On last Saturday, me and my mate purchased a new bedroom suit, which was about it. Eh, other than that, nothing has happened I suppose. My grandpa went into the hospital last Wednesday, but he's doing better. It was nothing serious, so no worries.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along like always.**

**Last time, the battle with Yubel and Haou teamed up raged on against the Fallen Angels, proving that the Fallen Angels have their hands full. Can the Fallen Angels pull things together, or will Yubel and Haou crush their enemies together?**

**There are no reviews, which is odd for once. I don't know if the alerts just didn't go off or what, but I was shocked when I saw I had no reviews. For that reason, I'll just move on and say my usual thing: enjoy!**

**Chapter 26**

With a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes, Haou drew his card while smirking at the fact that the other team was bickering. "_It will be their undoing, that much is for certain._"

Showing his new card, he calmly said "I activate Card of Demise, allowing me to draw till I hold five cards in my hand."

Slowly standing up from his last beating by the red dragon, Mammon slightly chuckled and called out "You and Yubel are very accommodating Supreme King. With you drawing, I get to pick up two more cards due to Appropriate, plus gain 500 life points due to Solemn Wishes."

"I care not." Haou replied coldly while both drew their cards. "My only concern is to crush you into the ground. You and your comrades are no more than gnats to me, so it's time I crushed all of you. I activate the spell Premature Burial. By giving up 800 life points, I return to my field Evil Hero Inferno Wing (2100/1200)."

Rising back up onto the field was the black winged female warrior with green hair. She evilly smirked at the monsters across the field, making a few shift uneasily.

Holding up his next card, Haou said "Next, I activate Dark Fusion, and fuse together Inferno Wing with The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to create a new creature, one that will destroy all of you soon enough. By fusing these two together, I create Evil Hero Dark Gaia (?/0)!"

Materializing onto the field beside of the female warrior was a grey rock like creature with red tentacles sticking out of it's body. The two swirled together with little warning, forming a bright light. From the light, a new creature winged creature in grey rock like armor that covered most of his body. It had a long tail with an arrow head on the end, a pair of clawed feet, clawed hands, a rock like helmet that covered all but it's mouth, and a set of bat like wings with red skin and lava like veins pumping through them. The creature let out a mighty battle cry, sending out a wave of fear to the four duelists before Haou, who only smirked at it.

Getting a grip on himself, Belphegor asked "What are it's attack points?"

"I'm getting to that!" Haou fired back. "You see, when I fused Hex, I used it's special ability to count it as a substitute for a Fusion Material Monster. My pick was Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850). Now, Dark Gaia's attack points are equal to the combined attack points of the monsters I fused. Since Hex counted as Valkyrion, their combined points equal 5600 (2100 + 3500 5600/0)!"

Letting out another battle cry, the warrior's body glowed with a bright red aura while his strength increased greatly.

"It's time I made you vanish Mammon. Dark Gaia, destroy him with Dark Catastrophe!"

Rising off the ground, the rock armored warrior spread his arms and wings out. Lava suddenly went surging to the top of the ground behind the warrior. A large rock appeared from within the lava and suddenly stopped above the warrior. The rock instantly shattered into several flaming chunks and went racing straight for Mammon, who stood silently.

Taking a card from his hand and placing it into his Graveyard, Mammon smugly said "Sorry fool, but I will not fade away. I discard Kuriboh (300/200), whose special ability reduces my Battle Damage to zero. Nice try."

Instantly appearing before Mammon was a brown fur ball creature with short stubby green arms and legs. The fur ball courageously stood before it's master and took the hit from each and every flaming rock till no more rained down and the creature shattered.

Clenching his right fist, Haou heatedly said "You will not escape me this time. Lightning Golem, crush him!"

Pointing a palm at Mammon, the towering blue-green armored warrior shot a stream of white lightning at him, striking him hard and making him scream out while falling to one knee.

Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, Haou calmly said "I set this card and end my turn." (Yubel 8500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4100, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Picking up a new card, Mammon examined it and frowned. "_I'm so close to summoning the great Destroyer! I just need his head! This is infuriating that I've yet to draw it!_"

Taking a calming breath, he grinned evilly and murmured in his mind "_No matter, I will draw it soon enough._"

Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and a horizontal monster card, he quietly said "I set a card and a monster. Since I hold eight cards, I must discard two. Now I end." (Yubel 8500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Biting his lip while drawing his card, Belphegor glanced around at his teammates. "_Our team is coming apart at the seams. That damn Mammon started it by arrogantly destroying one of Satan's creatures. Satan is a hot head who won't listen to reason hardly at all, and then there is Asmodeus, who isn't much better. It is up to me to keep unity, and at worst, win this duel myself._"

Looking at the card he held, he slightly smirked. "I begin by playing this familiar spell, Graceful Charity! I draw three cards now, but must toss out two."

Picking up three new cards, he picked two and quietly placed them within his Graveyard Slot. Once the cards were sucked down, he smirked and said "Next, I play my powerful trap, Disgraceful Charity. Now I may return all the cards to my hand I just discarded."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot on Belphegor's Duel Disk pushed out two cards that had just been put in. Awaiting them, he picked them up and grabbed another from his hand, turning all three towards the pair on the other side of the field.

"I activate my second Mustering of the Dark Scorpions, meaning I can now summon out all of my Dark Scorpions in my hand. I summon Dark Scorpion – Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800) and Dark Scorpion – Chick the Yellow (1000/1000)!"

Materializing onto the field beside of the silver haired thief was a woman dressed in similar fashion as the previous thieves, with long brown hair that fell to her lower back and held a whip in her hand. Beside of her was a short young man with blond spiky hair with a red headband on his forehead and a hammer on his back. Like the others, he was dressed similarly.

"And since I just played both, now all three of my Dark Scorpions feel the power of The A. Forces (2000/1500) (1600/1800) (1600/1000)!"

All three thieves' bodies instantly glowed to life with a white aura, each seemingly grunting out with their new power.

"Unfortunately, it's time for a bit of sadness, for I play a spell called Dark Scorpion – Tragedy of Love!"

Looking sorrowfully at the female warrior, who returned the same look at him, the gray haired man gasped in shock while the female warrior slowly vanished in a flash of light. Sadness poured out of the silver haired man's eyes, till finally they turned to rage and fury. Screaming out a loud curse, the man charged across the field with insanity flashing through his eyes.

Drawing both his guns, the man began firing shot after shot at the red dragon, who only grunted out indignity at the attack. Not stopping his assault, the silver haired man holstered one gun and drew a knife from his side. Reaching the feet of the large blue and purple creature, he buried the knife into the creature's foot, making it howl out in pain. Infuriated by the attack, the blue and purple creature reached down with it's clawed hand, attempting to pierce the warrior, only to miss the nimble thief. Seeing the silver haired thief in mid-air, the purple and blue creature tried to slam it's clawed hand into the thief, but again, the thief was far too nimble and the creature missed, but instead rammed it's claws into the red dragon.

Unfortunately, the red dragon had been preparing to deliver a blast of flames at the thief, but the blow from the blue and purple creature made it howl out in pain, while firing off it's blast at the creature itself. The large blue and purple creature stumbled a bit before slamming into the large yellow dragon. The two tumbled backwards onto Haou's field, crushing the stone armored warrior while the blue-green armored warrior evaded the collapsing pair. Smashing to the ground, the three larger creatures shattered while the stone armored warrior vanished as well. The blue-green armored warrior had avoided the danger, but wasn't too lucky, for soon enough, he found a knife buried in it's gut with the silver haired thief holding the hilt. Blood slowly trickled out of the blue-green armored warrior's mouth while the silver haired thief delivered a devastating right fist to the warrior's head, who shattered on impact.

Panting heavily, the thief returned to the blonde haired thief's side, who only stared with wide eyes at his comrade.

Smirking, Belphegor smugly said "And I quote, love does conquer all. Even love's heartache."

Narrowing her eyes, Yubel growled out "What have you done!?"

Chuckling darkly, Belphegor replied "It's a really simple concept Yubel. When I played Dark Scorpion – Tragedy of Love, I had to sacrifice Meanae. I'm then allowed to destroy all monsters on your two's fields. Don lost Meanae, but he has peace of mind now that your monsters are gone."

"Ironic I suppose. The thing you wished to prove to that brat, Jaden, was your love, and now love has destroyed your own creatures. And the destruction only continues!" Belphegor declared while pointing at Yubel. "Don (1800/1500), Chick (1400/1000), direct attack her!"

Charging forward, both thieves drew their weapons. The silver haired thief raised both guns and began firing at the demoness, making her shrink back a little. While she was shrinking back, the blonde haired thief drew his mallet and slammed it towards the female demon, who used her right arm to block the attack.

Smirking victoriously, Belphegor smartly said "Thanks to my attacks, both Don's and Chick's effects kick in. First for Chick, I'll look at the top card on your deck. I can then send it to the top or bottom of your deck."

The card instantly flew off of the top of Yubel's deck and appeared before Belphegor, who examined it closely. "I choose the bottom." he remarked, causing the card to fly back to Yubel's Duel Disk and slide to the bottom of her deck.

"Next, Don's effect forces you to send the top two cards from your deck to the Graveyard."

Shrugging, Yubel wordlessly drew two cards and tossed them into her Graveyard Slot, seemingly with no concern.

"I end my turn." (Yubel 5300, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Picking up his new card, Satan sneered and said "It's time I end your reign in this world, Supreme King. I sacrifice both my Balrogs to summon the almighty Maju Garzett (?/0)!"

Both crimson demons vanished from the field in a flash, only leaving behind a horrid looking dark pink looking creature that stood nearly fifteen feet tall, with bones and muscle exposed all over it's body. Silver like hair bristled out from it's body in random places, with small spikes coming out from it's bones. The creature's eyes were red and it let out a horrific roar, but neither Yubel nor Haou seemed impressed.

"Maju's effect kicks in now. It's attack points are equal to the monster's attack points that I sacrificed to summon it. Since both Balrogs had 2000 attack points, it has 4000 attack points (2000 + 2000 4000/0)!"

"What a pathetic creature." Yubel muttered loudly, earning her a glare from Satan while Haou remained quiet.

Infuriated, Satan fired back "We'll see how pathetic my creature is when I send your partner to the Shadows! Destroy Supreme King with Darkness Slash!"

Letting out a dreadful roar, the dark pink creature ran forward, clawed hand raised with dark energy pouring off of it's bone-spiked fingers. Reaching Haou, the creature slashed him, causing a massive explosion to ensue with smoke covering the area.

Laughing manically, Satan pointed a finger at the explosion and roared out "Fool, I told you that you would fall before our might!"

From the smoke, a voice said "I think not, for you are the true fool here."

The four instantly gasped in shock as the smoke dissipated, revealing a completely unharmed Haou.

"BUT HOW!? YOU SHOULD BE GONE!" Satan furiously declared.

Smirking coldly, Haou pointed at his revealed trap card. "I played this trap, Nutrient Z. When I take 2000 or more Battle Damage, this trap activates, granting me an additional 4000 life points. In essence, I cancelled out your attack by playing my trap."

Clenching his fist tightly, Satan snarled "I end!" (Yubel 5300, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Clenching his jaw while drawing, Asmodeus picked up his card and growled with irritation. "_How can this be!? I've not drawn a single monster since my first turn! Arg, this is not going to end well for me. Yubel's damn Nightmare Wheel continues to lock me into place, meaning I can't do anything! Our only hope right now is for Mammon to finish drawing Exodia to win this duel._"

Dejectedly, he said "I pass this turn." (Yubel 5300, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 1400, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Drawing her new card, Yubel glanced at it and placed it within her hand. Closing her eyes, she slowly reopened them and said "I have one question for all of you before I crush the lot of you. I simply partnered with Lucifer because of the mutual benefit I would receive, not to mention I wished to receive the Legendary Demons. I did it for those reasons alone, not for your ideals. So tell me, what do you fanatics hope to achieve with your plan? Domination of Dark World? Or is this some fulfillment of some kind of age-old vendetta you've had against everyone in these dimensions?"

Silence enveloped the group for a while till Satan finally spoke up, saying "Apocalypse."

Frowning, Yubel asked "Apocalypse? Is that what this is about?"

Not receiving an answer, Yubel burst out loud in maniacal laughter while holding her sides. "This is what this is all about! You are truly all fools! I shall prove to each of you here and now that no such force as your so called 'Apocalypse' can stop me. Now watch as I crush all of you!"

Pointing at her trap, she said "First, my dear Asmodeus, you lose 500 more life points thanks to Nightmare Wheel!"

Doubling over in pain, Asmodeus whimpered while his body glowed with a familiar red aura. Slowly, he straightened, but winced lightly while doing so.

Sneering at the pain she had caused, Yubel continued on, saying "Next, I set two cards and activate a dicey spell card known as Card of Sanctity. Each of us now draw till we hold six cards in our hands."

"You do realize Yubel, I get to draw two more cards thanks to Appropriate, not to mention gain 500 life points due to Solemn Wishes, don't you?" Mammon asked with a smirk.

Shrugging, Yubel muttered "I don't care."

At that, the group of six picked up their cards. Examining her six new cards, Yubel sneered and said "I can see Mammon didn't draw his final piece of his so called great Destroyer. What a pity, because it'll cost you the duel! I'm giving you a small gift first Belphegor, so here, I special summon to your field Grinder Golem (3000/300)!"

Almost instantly, there appeared before Belphegor a large, heavy metallic behemoth of a creature with a buzz saw blade for a head and spikes all over its body and chains flinging from it. It had a clamp like left hand while the right had four sharp claws.

"What is this!?" Belphegor asked in surprise.

Smirking, she slyly replied "This is a gift, but it comes with a price tag. You see, when Grinder Golem is played to your field, I gain two Grinder Tokens (0/0) on my field."

Materializing instantly before Yubel was two smaller versions of the heavy metal creature. Each had buzz saws for heads and took up kneeling stances.

"But I don't understand, why give me such a powerful monster?" Belphegor asked in confusion.

"You shall soon see." Yubel mysteriously replied with a smirk. "By the way, on the turn I give you Grinder Golem, I cannot summon nor set a monster. But I have other plans. I reveal my face down card, the spell Monster Reincarnation, forcing me to discard one card from my hand to return a monster from my Graveyard. I toss out this useless card to return Raviel, Lord of Phantasm!"

Placing the card into her Graveyard Slot, Yubel waited patiently while the card was sucked in. The slot then glowed to life once more and pushed out a monster card into her awaiting hand.

"I next reveal my other face down spell, Brain Control! By giving up 800 life points, I take control of a monster on the field, and I choose the one I just gave you Belphegor!"

Eyes widening, Belphegor watched as the buzz saw headed creature was pulled to Yubel's side of the field. Seeing three creatures on her field, he gasped in shock and disbelievingly said "You can't possibly plan to…"

"I see you've caught on." Yubel smugly remarked. "I do plan on sacrificing all three, so be gone Grinder Golem and my two Grinder Tokens so I may call forth once more Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000)!"

A cloud of purple smoke instantly filled an area behind Yubel. From the smoke, wings, claws, and horns popped out. Revealing itself fully once more, the blue and purple creature let out a massive roar, sending shockwaves throughout the area.

"Your time is up Belphegor." Yubel darkly said, making the named duelist's eyes widen greatly. Pointing a clawed finger at her target, she cried out "Raviel, destroy his pathetic Don Zaloog with Shimmering Slash!"

Letting out a massive roar, the blue and purple figure took a step forward while pulling back it's clawed right hand. The claws began glowing with a light blue energy, making them shimmer brightly. Stretching forward it's clawed hand, the blue and purple creature sent it's claws piercing through the silver haired thief, making him scream out in pain before shattering. Continuing onward, the creature ran it's claws through Belphegor, who shrieked out in agony from being impaled. Blood instantly poured out of his body from his wound while the creature pulled back it's clawed hand, leaving a gaping hole in Belphegor.

Coughing roughly, he spat up a puddle of blood and fell to his knees. Glancing up weakly at Yubel, he saw his vision blur a bit.

"You lose Belphegor. You took a gamble in fighting me, and now you shall suffer for it forever in the Shadows." she smugly remarked.

Rasping weakly, Belphegor glared at the demoness and screamed out "I won't be going to the Shadows alone! You're coming with me!"

With his words spoken, he turned a palm towards the female demon and let out a horrific scream while black energy went plowing straight for her. Yubel stood her ground with the energy nearing her, seemingly unafraid. Before the energy could reach her though, the blast fizzled out and Belphegor's body was enveloped in a black haze. He began screaming loudly while black tentacles of energy wrapped around him, pulling him away into the darkness. His final screams were finally silenced, leaving a deathly quiet sound behind.

"Do you doubt my strength still?" Yubel challenged with a sneer.

Meeting her cold look with one of his own, Satan fired back "We will destroy you, even without Belphegor. The will of Lucifer shall be carried out. Finish your move already."

Shrugging, Yubel placed two cards into her Spell/Trap Slot and simply said "I place these two cards down and end. One down, three to go." (Yubel 4500, Haou 2900; Mammon 5100, Belphegor 0, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Drawing a card with no emotion on his face, Haou slapped the card to his Duel disk, saying "I special summon Evil Hero Inferno Prodigy (300/600)."

Materializing instantly onto the field was a creature with black and brown armor on it's body, black elongated horns on it's head, black bat like wings on it's back, and a long black tail. The creature evilly smirked, seemingly plotting.

"Wait, how was that a special summon!?" Asmodeus questioned.

"Simple, it's his special ability." Haou informed. "When I have no monsters in play, I can special summon this hero. Now then, I sacrifice him to summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800)."

The smirking creature vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a tall, thin warrior with skin tight black armor, adorned with many spikes. The creature wore a dark blue helmet over it's face, with exception of it's mouth being hidden. On his hands, there were sharp spikes, three on each hand, sticking out, and on his back were a pair of blade like wings.

"How did you summon that creature with only one sacrifice!? It's a level seven monster and needs two!" Mammon complained.

Chuckling at the annoying question, Haou coldly replied "It's Edge's special ability. You see, when you have a monster on the field, I can sacrifice only one monster to summon Edge. Now then, I think it's time I cut down that creature of yours. Malicious Edge, attack his pathetic face down monster with Needle Burst!"

Sneering, the winged warrior took to the air. With a loud cry, he crossed his arms and then swung them through the air, shooting the three claws from each hand at the face down card image. The image easily shattered, revealing a small squirrel creature with wing like flaps of skin. Each of the needles were sticking through it, making it squeal before exploding into millions of pieces.

"Thanks for doing that, Supreme King. You just destroyed my Nimble Momonga (1000/100), which grants me an additional 1000 life points when sent to my Graveyard. Next, I'm allowed to special summon all the Nimble Momonga I have from my deck to the field in face down defense mode."

Pulling his deck out, Mammon sorted through his deck and slapped two new cards horizontally onto his Duel Disk. Shuffling his remaining deck, he placed it back in it's slot and smirked triumphantly.

"That maybe so, but Edge has a special ability too. When he attacks a monster in defense, you take damage equal to the difference in his attack points and your monster's defense points." Haou informed.

Gasping in shock, Mammon said "Trample!?"

"Exactly!" Haou replied while the winged warrior threw a series of spikes at Mammon, who could only scream out while the needles sank into his skin. Carefully, he pulled the six out, wincing greatly each time.

"I set two cards and move to my End Phase, in which Evil Hero Inferno Prodigy's effect kicks in. Since I sacrificed him, I get to draw an extra card."

Picking up one card, Haou watched while Mammon weakly drew two and his life points slightly increased. "You didn't forget about my traps, now did you?" Mammon boasted weakly.

"No, I did not. For now, I end my turn." (Yubel 4500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4100, Belphegor 0, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Drawing a card, Mammon snarled at it. Infuriated, he showed a card and said "I play the spell Smashing Ground, destroying a monster on the field with the most defense points, which happens to be Raviel!"

Appearing above the field was a massive fist. The fist went sailing downwards, smashing into the large purple and blue creature, which howled out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

Slightly smirking at his achievement, Mammon selected four cards from his hand and placed them into his Graveyard Slot, muttering "Since I can't hold over six cards in my hand at the End Phase, I toss these four out. I end my turn." (Yubel 4500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 0, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Drawing his new card, Satan examined his card and said "I activate the spell Trade-In! This handy spell allows me to discard a level eight monster and draw two new cards. I toss out Berserk Dragon for this card."

Placing the monster card into his Graveyard, Satan picked up two more cards and grumbled slightly. "Maju Garzett, attack Malicious Edge with Darkness Slash!"

Preparing to move forward, the demon flexed it's claws and glared at the black armored warrior. Letting out a low growl, the creature lunged forward, claws ready to strike.

"You never learn, fool. I activate my face down card, Book of Moon, forcing your monster into face down defense mode." Haou stoically declared.

Instantly, a blue spell book appeared before the charging creature, making it stop in it's tracks. It suddenly vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a horizontal card image on Satan's field.

Clenching his fist tightly, Satan grabbed a card and slid it into his Graveyard and angrily spat out "I end!" (Yubel 4500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 0, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Quietly drawing, Asmodeus drew his card. Frustrated by his new card, he snarled "I can do nothing. You had better finish Exodia soon Mammon if you wish to win!" (Yubel 4500, Haou 2900; Mammon 4600, Belphegor 0, Satan 3000, Asmodeus 3000)

Darkly chuckling at the dissidence between the three remaining duelists, Yubel drew her card and cast a glare at Asmodeus. Instantly, his body glowed with a dark red glow, making him whimper in pain while more of his life points drained away.

"You fools are finished this turn." she smugly remarked. "I begin by playing a spell that will disrupt all of your plans, Mammon. I activate Card Destruction!"

Mammon's eyes instantly widened with fear and panic while Yubel cackled. "You are truly foolish Mammon, to depend on such a cowardly strategy that depended upon holding certain cards when one card alone can break what you've worked so hard to achieve. Now you will fall, along with your pitiful friends."

All three of the robed men clenched their hands tightly. At long last, each discarded their entire hands, much like Yubel and Haou. Each drew the same number of cards they had previously had, with Mammon screaming out in anguish.

"_Damn it all! I draw Exodia's head now!_" he snarled within his mind.

Smirking evilly, Yubel flashed a new card at the group, saying "I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up two new cards."

Growling lowly, Mammon muttered "Thanks, because now Appropriate activates, allowing me to draw two cards and gain 500 life points."

Shrugging, Yubel and Mammon both drew their new cards, with Yubel grinning evilly once more, making the three remaining duelists shift uneasily, while Haou was unaffected. "I activate my trap, Disgraceful Charity, allowing me to return the two cards I previously tossed out."

One by one, the two cards slid out of her Graveyard Slot and into her awaiting hand. Taking both, she showed one to the group, saying "I play the spell Heavy Storm, thus destroying all spell and trap cards."

A huge wind blew up instantly, sending all the face down cards flying into the air and shattering, one by one. Mammon groaned lightly at the loss of his cards.

"Since I just destroyed one of my cards, Dummy Marker, I get to draw a new card."

Picking up a card, she examined it before showing it, saying "I play a powerful spell known as Cemetery Change. Here is how it works, I pay a 1000 life points, and then all monsters on the field are destroyed. I may then swap my Graveyard with another person on the field. I have the perfect person in mind too, which is you Mammon!"

Gasping in surprise, Mammon had no time to react before Yubel glowed with a dark red aura and all of the monsters on the field shattered, one by one. Walking over to him, she held her hand to her Graveyard Slot, which pushed out all the cards that it contained. Grudgingly, he did the same to his own Graveyard. Trading cards, Yubel and Mammon stuck their newly claimed cards into their Graveyards.

"Before I go, I set one card and activate Exchange. Now we look at one another's hands and pick a card out to trade."

Showing her remaining two cards, Yubel expectedly asked "Well, which card would you like?"

Glancing at the two cards, Mammon mulled over in his mind over the choices. "_The two remaining cards are ridiculous. She only has Spell Chronicle and Smashing Ground. I suppose Smashing Ground would be helpful._"

Picking the Smashing Ground card, Mammon showed his own hand. Glancing it over, she smirked evilly and picked his final piece of Exodia, making him look at her with a puzzled look.

Glaring at her back, he asked "Why pick Exodia!? It's useless to you now, along with myself."

"You'll see." Yubel slyly remarked while walking back to her position.

Arriving finally, she turned back and faced the three before her. Pointing at her face down card, she said "I play the spell Double Spell, allowing me to toss out a spell card from my hand to activate a spell from anyone's Graveyard but my own. I choose yours Mammon, and I pick Card of Sanctity, meaning each of us draw till we hold six cards."

Yubel, Mammon, and Haou each picked up new cards quietly, only to have the silence broken by Yubel herself. "I play the spell Hell's Transaction, which allows me to select a monster in one of your three's Graveyards with 2000 or more attack points and summon it to the field. I can think of no better one than Asmodeus's pathetic Red-Eyes Black Dragon (2400/2000)!"

Rematerializing onto the field instantly was the black skeletal like dragon, which let out a screech.

Looking shocked, Asmodeus asked "But why give me a monster!?"

"Because, the rest of my spell is about to activate. Now I'm allowed to transfer a spell from my Graveyard to my hand. The perfect one would be this one that Mammon tossed aside, which is Dark Factory of Mass Production." Yubel answer while covering her Graveyard Slot with her hand. After a moment, the card slid out into her awaiting hand.

"But why play that…" Mammon began, but suddenly his eyes widened greatly. "YOU WOULDN'T!"

"I would!" Yubel fired back and showed the card, saying "I activate Dark Factory of Mass Production. With this spell, I'm allowed to return two Normal Type monsters to my hand, so the Left Arm of the Forbidden One and the Right Arm of the Forbidden One returns to my hand."

"And now, to bring the curtain down on this duel. I activate the spell Magical Shard Excavation. To use this card, I must toss two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, and then I'm allowed to return a spell from my Graveyard to my hand."

Placing two cards from her hand into her Graveyard Slot, she said "I return Dark Factory of Mass Production."

The card finally slid out of the slot and into Yubel's awaiting hand. Evilly grinning, she said "Time to say farewell fools. I play Dark Factory of Mass Production, allowing me to return the Left Leg of the Forbidden One and the Right Leg of the Forbidden One."

Both monster cards slid out of her Graveyard Slot slowly and into her hand. Placing the two cards in her hand, she evilly began laughing as a foul wind began blowing on the cliff, making everyone's clothes ruffle.

Mammon looked on horrified, while Asmodeus and Satan gasped in complete shock. Without warning, a light violet pentagram shaped portal opened. Pushing through the portal were large golden arms and legs. Not long after that, the face of the golden creature pushed through, revealing itself to have a headdress that belonged to the Egyptians. The creature let out a dark rumble, making all three robed figures cower in fear.

"We're finished…" Mammon muttered while falling to his knees. "Forgive us Master Lucifer, we were too weak!"

Pulling both golden hands together, the creature began forming a glowing golden energy sphere within it's hands.

Laughing manically, Yubel screamed out "Exodia, Obliterate!"

Pulling back it's right arm, the creature fired the blast of golden energy straight at the three robed figures, who screamed out loudly before completely vanishing from sight. Done with it's attack, the large creature slowly vanished, leaving only Yubel and Haou behind.

"And that's that." Yubel remarked while her Duel Disk shrunk back into her arm and Haou's returned to it's original form.

"Now then, where were we?" Haou asked coldly while glaring at Yubel.

Shrugging, the demoness replied "I don't care. I have other important things to take care of. I have no time to play with you, Supreme King."

"What's that?" Haou coldly asked with a twinge of anger in his voice.

Smirking evilly, Yubel replied "You heard me. I have bigger fish to fry it seems. I will return for you though, so for now, continue to pretend to be who you are, Jaden."

"I am not Jaden! He has vanished!" Haou fiercely declared.

"Really, then why do I sense him within you still? Are you just preserving him due that he is a part of your soul? Or do you really fear him?" Yubel taunted. Spreading her wings, she added "It doesn't matter to me. For now, it is clear to achieve my goal, I must rid myself of those three other nuisances."

With that said, Yubel took to the air, leaving a fuming Haou. Clenching his fists, he coldly declared "I will destroy you one day Yubel. Just wait."


	27. Chapter 27: Temptation, Pt 1

**Hey everyone! Well, this past weekend wasn't too bad. Not much really happened that I can remember. I had a three day weekend, but again, not much happened. I saw my grandparents, and that was about it. Really, nothing is going on even now, oddly enough, other than my dad keeping me busy with the hay, but I don't mind too badly I suppose.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along. Work on this story is still happening, but is sometimes slow. It happens I suppose, lol.**

**Last time, Yubel and Supreme King Haou finished their battle with the four Fallen Angels and became the victors thanks to Yubel. She stole all of Exodia from Mammon, giving them the win. In the end, Yubel left Haou before fighting him, angering him greatly. The question now is, who else will the Fallen Angels target?**

**And now, it's time once more for reviews!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: It's cool. Vacations are always more fun than reading, hehe, so I can't blame you. It's all good that you didn't review, so no worries. Heh, it's not like I freaked out that no one reviews, lol. I guess it was just odd. Thanks about the duel. Yes, one would think Mammon would have drawn Exodia, but he didn't in time and in the end Yubel made him pay for it. Yeah, usually Exodia can be easily drawn in a game, but it didn't happen in this duel, luckily for Haou and Yubel, hehe. Nah, Haou didn't get to finish things off. I think Yubel had more fun finishing the others off with Exodia than she would have with the Legendary Demons. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Lol, making these into shows? Nah, never thought of it. I have more than enough fun writing on this, so I don't think a show would be possible, plus that's copyright infringement, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: It's cool about not reviewing. Life gets crazy, so no worries. Glad you like how I've done the story so far with the Supreme King thus far. Thanks for the review!**

**Vyser Dragoon: It's cool about not realizing I had updated. I think the alerts on were probably messed up like they occasionally do. Gotta love that about this site… At any rate, yeah, it was fun to see Exodia finish things against the Fallen Angels. Ah, a nice evil laugh is always good for the lungs. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: It's cool about not reviewing my previous chapter. It happens, lol. (/Vein pops out of forehead at thought of doggie treat. Crackles claws.\) I would not try to pacify me with something like that… ever again, or you may find yourself shredded to ribbons. Only my mate may bribe me with something like that, hehe. Thanks about the climax of the duel with Haou and Yubel against the four Fallen Angels. I think both me and ardee did capture the cruelty of Yubel in this story, thankfully. Eh, we kind of agreed Yubel is a girl for this story I think, although it could be either way really. But yes, it was nice of Yubel to use Mammon's own strategy in destroying him and the others. Satan was pretty interesting, and he kept things interesting till the end. Glad you think Haou was in character throughout that duel and afterwards. As for Duel Spirits, we'll see what we came up with, hehe. Heh, thanks for cheering me up with your review, but like I said before, it's all good. I don't expect reviews every time, so it's all good. I guess I was just a bit surprised last time when there were none, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this session of reviews. Thanks to all five of you that reviewed. I really appreciated it. I hope all of you enjoy this next chapter.**

**Btw, before I forget, this chapter's new character's deck is based off of Metal Overlord 2.0's deck submission. That's right MO2.0, your character is finally front and center stage, so I hope you like what I did with him. Thanks again everyone for the reviews last time, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 27**

Slowly trekking along, Illidan and Marie continued moving along through the wasteland at a slow pace. The two had fallen into a part of Dark World together, but had found no traces of the others when they awoke.

"Illidan, do you think we'll ever find them?" Marie asked for the millionth time.

Groaning, Illidan roughly bit out "Dear, I've answered this question several times already. If we're lucky, we'll find them!"

"Don't snap at me!" Marie fired back harshly.

Growling lowly, Illidan turned to look at her and gruffly replied "THEN DON'T ASK REPETITIVE QUESTIONS!"

"What's wrong with you!?" she hissed.

Glaring at her, he responded "You! Ever since we've arrived, you've been trying like hell to test my patients! It's infuriating me to the point that I've lost all my patients, something I never thought would happen!"

"Don't you yell at me!" Marie snapped back. "You're the one who went blindly into this world without a plan!"

Clenching his right fist, he yelled "How is this my fault!? I wanted to find Arya, so it's my fault we're here then!"

"No, but if you had thought things out a little more, maybe you'd have realized that the group would get spread apart!" she harshly bit back.

Turning away, Illidan began walking away, only to hear "Where are you going now!?"

"To be alone." he fired back.

"Oh no, you're not leaving me alone! Get your butt back here!" Marie declared.

Spinning around to face Marie, he harshly said "I want to be alone! Go find the others and pester them! I've had enough of your attitude! Ever since we lost Arya, all you've done is be critical of me! Has it ever occurred to you that I might be suffering inside from this too!?"

"It has I'm sure, but you never say anything. You keep it all bottled up and never offer to let it out! It's hard to know when you're suffering, so don't come crying about not thinking about you when you're the one who never says a thing about when you're hurting inside!"

Clenching both fists, Illidan spun around and began walking off, leaving a fuming Marie behind. "Fine, just walk away. I can find our daughter on my own!" she angrily spat.

--

Firmly walking along, Illidan still could hear the angry harsh words of his wife ringing through his ears. "Damn woman, she doesn't know when to shut up." he muttered softly.

"_Ever since we lost Arya, I've felt nothing but a sense of fear. I've had to keep myself in constant meditation to keep from letting that fear from taking over, but Marie doesn't know that. She's just as worried over Arya as I am. I know she's on edge, and just doesn't understand that she's putting more pressure on me._"

Heavily sighing, he stopped his footsteps and glanced back in the direction he had traveled. He had already traveled five miles since leaving his wife.

"I should go back…" he muttered to himself. "I don't want to lose Marie too to whatever maybe out here."

Turning around and starting walk back in the opposite direction, he stopped when he suddenly felt a presence appear behind him. Quickly whirling around and backing away ten feet, he saw a figure in black robes standing quietly.

"Jumpy, aren't we?" the figure asked. The figure was nearly five and half feet tall with a black hood covering his head and black robes covering his body. His posture was slightly hunched, but only slightly.

Angrily, Illidan asked "Who are you!?"

"My, my, you're a curious one." the figure replied. Reaching up, he pushed his hood back, revealing his head. He had a soft black colored hair that was somewhat messy, if not nearly spiky, that came down to his lower jaw in length. His eyes were black as coal, and his face was filled with curiosity.

"My name is Beelzebub." the figure quietly said.

Frowning, Illidan asked "What is it you want from me?"

Scratching his chin, Beelzebub calmly said "Oh, well, not much. Just your soul and Duel Energy, that sort of thing."

Clenching his right fist, Illidan snarled "You're one of the Fallen Angels that took Arya, aren't you!?"

"I'll tell you what, if you can make me talk, I'll tell you what I know." Beelzebub responded with a tone of boredom.

Rushing forward, Illidan screamed out "Don't mess with me!"

Reaching Beelzebub, he attempted to punch the dark haired man, only to hit air and watch Beelzebub dodge by leaping away. Landing on the ground, Beelzebub removed his cloak, revealing a black Duel Disk on his arm, a white long sleeved shirt, and blue jeans with no shoes on.

Staring at the Duel Disk, Illidan's jaw clenched and mumbled "Can't be…"

"Ah, I see you recognize this Duel Disk." Beelzebub commented.

"But why are you carrying that one… I saw that one almost a little over ten years ago, so why do you have it?" Illidan asked softly.

Shrugging, Beelzebub simply replied "Because it's what I like. Now then, are you going to make me talk?"

Clenching his fists once more, Illidan charged forward and attempted to punch Beelzebub, only to again hit air while his target dodged to the side. Not giving up, Illidan spun around, attempting to hit his target again with his other fist, only to miss once more. Instead, he found himself on the receiving end of a powerful kick to his cheek, sending him flying backwards through the air.

Recovering mid-air, Illidan landed onto his feet and slid backwards. Reaching up, he felt a small drip of blood coming from his mouth and wiped it off with the side of his fist.

"Not bad." Illidan commented. "You're pretty good at fighting."

"You're not too bad yourself, although your moves are predictable." Beelzebub stated.

Irked by Beelzebub's words, Illidan began to rush forward, when Beelzebub held up his hand, saying "Why bother with fists when we can settle this with a duel."

Smirking slightly, Illidan replied "Very well, a duel shall settle this."

Moving out to where they two had enough room between them, both pulled their decks out and shuffled, with each placing them into their slots on their Duel Disks. Both Duel Disks came to life instantly and activated fully. Drawing their first five cards, each cried out "Game on!"

Drawing his sixth card, Beelzebub calmly said "I'll begin this little match. Of course, as you know, this is a Shadow Game."

Upon him saying his words, a dark fog appeared around the pair, forming a black dome and keeping both from escaping.

"Of course I knew it would be. You and whoever it is that kidnapped Arya want my Duel Energy, along with my soul!" Illidan accused.

"Ah, so you've figured that much out." Beelzebub commented. "Good, then you know more than your other friends did."

Confused, Illidan asked "My other friends?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know that I had already visited with them, now would you?" Beelzebub replied. "Well, I found two. One I know was under that demoness's control, due that he cried out for her."

"_Demoness? Who in the world is he talking about?_" Illidan pondered.

Interrupting his thoughts, Beelzebub added "The first I faced was a young man wearing a black trench coat. He had the three most annoying monsters with him, and said he was the best, due that he was The Chazz."

Eyes widening, Illidan mumbled "Chazz…"

"In the end, I sent him to the Shadows, granting his Duel Energy to our purpose. It was amusing to see his surprise when he lost." Beelzebub commented.

Clenching his right fist tightly, Illidan lowly growled out "You monster, you'll pay for harming my student!"

"Oh, he was your student?" Beelzebub uninterestingly commented. "What a shame that he fell so easily. Anyways, the other was a young man using Dragon deck. I must say, he was more challenging than the other, but I knew Yubel was controlling him."

"Kevin…" Illidan mumbled in a bit of surprise. "_But how did he get here!? Is it possible Yubel went and brought him here!?_"

"Don't look too surprised Illidan. That young man snuck into this world through the portal that you arrived through." Beelzebub informed. "I take it by your shock that he snuck in behind you and your friends. No matter though, he has been dealt with. Now his Duel Energy feeds our purposes, while his body lies in the Shadows."

Glaring at Beelzebub, Illidan coldly retorted "You will pay for what you have done to my friends. I'll make sure you suffer for each one."

"That's if you can beat me." Beelzebub challenged. "I have only lost once with this deck, and that was long ago. Ever since, I have not been defeated. This deck, it is my heart and soul, and I shall put it all on the line to defeat you."

"We'll see." Illidan commented coldly.

Nodding, Beelzebub selected a card in his hand and placed it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I'll begin this duel by summoning Kozaky (400/400)."

A purple skinned, human like creature in an opened white lab coat with black slacks, with a pink tie around his neck, glasses, and lower neck length black hair appeared. The creature had small purple spikes sticking out of his coat on his back and elbows and pointed ears.

"This card represents me." Beelzebub commented. "It is odd, but powerful."

Staring at the card, Illidan frowned. "_That card has only 400 attack and defense points, with no effect. Why summon this creature? It's too weak to face my monsters, so why bother? Maybe he's holding back for now, I don't know._"

"I'll set two cards and activate the spell Stumbling." Beelzebub calmly said, breaking Illidan out of his thoughts. "Whenever a monster is summoned from now on, that monster is forced into defense mode. I think that is enough for now. Why don't you have a go at it?" (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 8000)

"Don't mind if I do!" Illidan replied while picking up a new card. Selecting a monster from his hand, he slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I'll start by summoning my Exarion Universe (1800/1900) in defense."

Materializing onto the field was a half man, half horse creature, with the human half having green skin. He wore thick bluish-grey armor that covered his head, shoulders, upper chest, and most of his horse half's back. His four horse legs were brown, with a black tail hanging off his backside. On his left hand was a thick hunk of armor that was a heavy looking weapon, and in his right hand was a lance with red blades on both ends.

"Next, I set one card and end my move…"

"Not quite Illidan, I play my face down spell, Mystical Space Typhoon, meaning your set card is destroyed." Beelzebub called out.

A powerful twister quickly formed on the field and plowed into Illidan's face down card image, revealing it to be a trap card.

Lightly growling, Illidan muttered "So much for Magic Cylinder. I still end my turn." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 8000)

Quietly drawing, Beelzebub slapped a monster card to his Duel Disk horizontally. "I'll begin this turn by summoning my Catnipped Kitty (0/500) in defense."

Emerging onto the field was a purple furred cat with a red bow around it's neck with a bell on it's collar. It had strange yellow swirls in it's fur, giving it a strange look.

"This card is special to me as well." Beelzebub calmly said with a small smile. "It reminds me of the one I once cared more about than anything else in my life. This card represents all the love she had for me."

Frowning once more, Illidan was about to ask what Beelzebub meant when Beelzebub grabbed another card from his hand, saying "I activate this spell, Shield Crush! This allows me to destroy one defense monster on the field, and I select your Exarion Universe!"

The spell card instantly glowed to life and shot a beam of golden light at the half horse creature. Upon being struck, the creature shattered into millions of pixels, leaving Illidan covering his face from the small puff of smoke that appeared from the loss of the monster.

"Kozaky, direct attack with Science Slash!"

Rushing forward, the maddened scientist creature reached out with it's hands, that were revealed to have claws on them. In a single swipe, he struck Illidan across the chest, who grunted out with a small amount of pain.

"I believe I've done enough for now. Your move Illidan." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 7600)

Quickly grabbing a new card, Illidan examined it for a moment and finally placed the card into one of his Spell/Trap Slots. "I set this card and then I'll summon this, my Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in defense."

Materializing onto the field was a sapphire colored dragon with bony like wings, red ruby eyes, sharp clawed hands and feet, and a powerful tail. The dragon crossed it's arms upon landing onto the field and let out a soft growl, daring anyone to attack it.

"I end my turn." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 7600)

Without hesitation, Beelzebub drew his next card and looked at it momentarily before finally saying "I play Catnipped Kitty's special ability. Once per a turn, I can make one monster's defense points go to zero. I'm choosing your Luster Dragon (1900/0)."

Meowing loudly, the cat reached up with it's paw and tapped the bell on it's bow, sending out a sound wave towards the sapphire dragon. The dragon growled in agitation while it's strength decreased.

Watching Illidan clench his right fist, Beelzebub called out "Kozaky, attack his dragon with Science Slash!"

Rushing across the field with his lab coat flapping in the wind, the purple crazed scientist raised his clawed right hand and prepared to slash the sapphire dragon, which lightly growled out a warning.

"I think not, for I play a spell!" Illidan declared. "Go Mystik Wok, which lets me sacrifice my monster and add it's attack points to my life points."

Smirking, Beelzebub replied "Very predictable. I activate my trap, Magic Drain. Unless you discard a spell card, your card is negated. If you do choose to discard one, your card stays in play. Make your choice carefully Illidan."

Glancing at his hand, Illidan sighed and muttered "I have no spells to discard."

"Then your card is negated." Beelzebub remarked, causing the spell card to suddenly shatter into pieces.

Reaching the sapphire dragon, the scientist slashed it across the chest, making the dragon howl out in pain before exploding, leaving Illidan standing alone.

"I end with a face down." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 7600)

Slightly growling, Illidan glared at the aloof duelist across the field. "_He counters all of my moves with ease. It's like his deck was built to counter me._"

Taking a calming breath, he closed his eyes. "_Calm down. Getting frustrated won't help matters in a duel this important. I just have to stay calm._"

Reopening his eyes, Illidan drew his next card and softly smiled. "You may have ruled this duel thus far, but I'm about to return the favor. I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in defense."

Roaring onto the field was a mechanical silver snake like dragon. The dragon pulled itself into a coil and let out a soft roar.

"Next, I sacrifice my dragon to summon Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700) in defense."

Vanishing from the field in a flash of light was the silver machine dragon, only to be replaced by a hulking orange dragon with dull grey armor. The dragon had short stubby wings, a spiked ball mace for a tail, sharp spikes sticking out of most of it's body, sharp clawed hands and feet, and armor covering most of his body. Crossing it's arms, the dragon let out a soft growl.

"You're wasting your time summoning creatures like that Illidan. Haven't you realized yet that my combo of Catnipped Kitty, Stumbling, and Kozaky is perfect?" Beelzebub asked with a bored expression.

Smirking, Illidan calmly replied "Nothing is perfect in this world. And to prove it, I'll show you. I discard my Tsukuyomi to my Graveyard to activate Armed Dragon's effect. By tossing out a monster, I can destroy one monster on the field with the same number of attack points as the discarded card. Tsukuyomi has 1100, meaning I can destroy either of your monsters. My choice is simple, it's Catnipped Kitty. Destroy it now Armed Dragon!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dragon stretched it's arms out. Without any warning, all of the spikes covering it's body shot off of it like a spray of missiles. The missiles went flying high into the air and began racing towards the weak cat creature.

Sighing, Beelzebub pointed at his face down card, saying "You never learn. I play my trap, Divine Wrath! Now I can negate your monster's special ability by discarding a card, and then destroy that monster. Say goodbye to your barrage, and goodbye to your dragon."

Glowing brightly in front of the cat creature instantly was a red barrier. All of the missiles struck it hard, but no damage was done to it. Suddenly, the barrier collapsed into a beam of light and went racing towards the orange dragon. The dragon was hit hard, making it howl before shattering.

Lightly growling with irritation, Illidan sighed heavily and muttered "I end my turn." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 7600)

"A pity you're not putting up much of a fight." Beelzebub commented while drawing his new card. "I activate Pot of Greed. This spell allows me to draw two more cards."

Picking up two more cards, he selected the other in his hand and said "I play the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse the Kozaky in my hand with Catnipped Kitty on the field to form Kozaky's Sexy Kitty (1000/1000) in defense!"

Emerging onto the field next to the cat creature was a second purple scientist. The two swirled together, sending out a small blinding light. The light soon died down, revealing a young woman with purple fur covering her body, wearing a tight red skirt with a white lab coat that opened near the top of her chest, revealing her cleavage. She had cat ears on her head, fangs, and a purple tail twitching behind her. Beside of her, the purple scientist blushed at the sight of the young woman.

"This monster represents the love I once had with someone who was precious to me, that is till I vanished." Beelzebub muttered. Perking up, he added "First off, Kozaky's Sexy Kitty grants all monsters with 'Kozaky' in their name 500 additional points (400 + 500 900/400 + 500 900) (1000 + 500 1500/1000 + 500 1500). Plus, so long as she's on the field, no other monsters with 'Kozaky' in it's name can be attacked."

"Great…" Illidan mumbled.

Pointing at Illidan, Beelzebub called out "Kozaky, attack Illidan with Science Slash!"

Rushing forward, the purple scientist stretched out it's clawed right hand while it's lab coat floated in the air behind it. Reaching Illidan, the scientist slashed him across the chest, making Illidan grunt out in pain.

"Before I end, I activate the spell Fusion Recovery, allowing me to take Polymerization from my Graveyard, along with one Fusion Material monster. I choose Catnipped Kitty."

Putting his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Beelzebub waited patiently till the slot pushed out two cards into his hand. Picking both up, he slapped the monster one to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon back Catnipped Kitty (0/500) in defense."

Reappearing onto the field was the purple cat creature, which let out a small "Meow."

"I end my turn." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 6700)

Clenching his fist tightly, Illidan glared at the three creatures on Beelzebub's field. "_Damn, none of them have a lot of attack points, but his strategy has me stopped cold in my tracks. Stumbling shifts any and all monsters played to defense, then he can use Catnipped Kitty's effect to reduce a monster's defense to zero. After that, he has his Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, giving Kozaky and itself a power boost. None of the three are strong on their own, but combined together, the four cards make up a powerful strategy that is guaranteed to slow a person down._"

Taking a calming breath, Illidan closed his eyes. "_Still, I'm not done yet. I just have to bide my time till I can defeat one of those creatures._"

Opening his eyes once more, Illidan calmly drew his card and slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, calmly saying "I summon Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000) in defense."

Materializing onto the field in a kneeling position was a small child like mage in white robes with a blue spandex body suit peeking out from under the robes. The mage held a small staff and had silver hair.

"I end." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 6700)

Quietly drawing, Beelzebub softly said "What a shame."

"Not really, since you just played my mage's ability." Illidan interrupted. "Every time you draw a card, he gains a Spell Counter, which raises his attack points by 500 (1000 + 500 1500/1000)."

The small white mage instantly glowed to life with a white aura, but the aura soon faded, leaving the mage in it's still crouched down position.

Shrugging, Beelzebub calmly replied "I was expecting more. I play Catnipped Kitty's special ability, and reduce your mage's attack points to zero (1500/0)."

Meowing softly, the purple cat creature smacked it's bell with it's paw, making the white mage cringe while it's body glowed with a red aura.

"Next, I switch Kozaky's Sexy Kitty to attack mode. And now, Kozaky, finish that mage off with Science Slash!"

Rushing forward, the purple skinned scientist flexed his claws and slashed the weakened mage across the chest, making him cry out in pain before finally shattering.

"Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, show off the sharpness of your own claws by direct attacking. Cat Scratch Fever!"

Letting out a small feral growl, the female purple furred cat creature rushed forward and leapt into the air. Coming down hard, she struck Illidan across the chest with both sets of claws, making him whimper in pain while clutching his ten scratch marks across his chest."

"I shall end with a face down. I end." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 5200)

Clenching his right fist, Illidan glared at Beelzebub and drew his new card. Jamming it into his Spell/Trap Slot, he said "I set this and end." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 5200)

Glancing at his new card, Beelzebub glanced at Illidan's field and then at Illidan. After seemingly analyzing him for what seemed like an eternity, Beelzebub calmly said "Your face down doesn't scare me. Kozaky, direct attack…"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Illidan calmly said. "That's why I play this, my trap, Ring of Destruction! Kozaky's Sexy Kitty is about to take a trip to the Graveyard! Once she's gone, we'll each lose 1500 life points."

Materializing before Illidan was a collar fitted with numerous explosives. The color began spinning rapidly for a moment before flying towards the purple furred cat creature, which gasped in shock at the oncoming collar.

Before the collar could attach itself, Beelzebub showed a card to Illidan and calmly said "Not quite Illidan. I discard this, my Decoy Kozaky (400/400) to the Graveyard to negate the destruction of my monster. Too bad, but that move of yours is about to go away."

Instantly, appearing in front of the female cat creature was a robot like version of the purple skinned scientist that was on the field. This robot creature was obviously a fake, for it had a windup key sticking out of it's back. The collar instantly snapped on around it's neck and exploded, removing both itself and the robot from the field.

Growling softly, Illidan clenched his right fist while glaring at Beelzebub. Unfazed, Beelzebub called out "Kozaky and Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, direct attack Illidan together!"

Both the female cat creature and the purple skinned scientist took off across the field, each zigzagging in front of one another before splitting off to the left and right of Illidan. The purple skinned scientist was first to strike, slashing Illidan in the left arm, making Illidan cringe from the pain. Not to be left out, the purple cat creature slashed him across the chest with each claw, making Illidan scream in pain while falling to one knee. He clutched his chest wounds while some blood spilled from each.

"Just give up Illidan. Make it easier on yourself. You'll never win at this rate." Beelzebub commented.

Throwing a sharp glare at the black haired young man, Illidan forced himself up and angrily spat back "NEVER!"

"So be it." Beelzebub replied with a shrug. "I end." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 2800)

Grabbing a new card, Illidan glanced at it before slapping it to his Duel Disk horizontally. "I summon Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900) in defense."

Forming onto the field was a small orange dragon with dull grey armor surrounding a majority of it's body. It had short stubbing wings and clawed hands protected by metal gloves. Crossing it's arms, the small creature chomped it's mouth together, making a clanging noise.

"That's all I have…" (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 2800)

"All you have?" Beelzebub questioned while drawing his card. "If that's all you have, then I'm afraid you won't last many more rounds. I activate Catnipped Kitty's effect, meaning your dragon is about to get weaker (1200/0). And now, Kozaky, make short work of that dragon, if you please."

Nodding to it's master, the purple skinned scientist ran forward, claws out and ready to strike. Reaching his target, the scientist slashed cleanly through the small dragon, which let out a small cry before shattering into millions of pixels.

"Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, attack him directly! Cat Scratch Fever!"

Letting out a feral hiss, the female cat creature leapt high into the air and came down slashing her claws onto Illidan's chest once more, who cried out in pain and fell to his hands and knees, panting heavily while blood dripped from his fresh wounds.

Frowning, Beelzebub calmly said "Here I thought you would be a true challenge. My Master told me you were the greatest duelist left in your world, yet I've yet to lose a single life point. How sad it is to win a duel like this. I would have thought of all my opponents you would be a challenge, but yet you've been one of the worst of them yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Illidan rasped out while glaring up and clutching his wounds carefully with his right hand.

Holding his Duel Disk up closer to his face, Beelzebub quietly said "This deck I built so long ago. I've never once changed it in my life. Once I had settled on my idea, I kept it the same, and continued on with it. The woman I loved liked it, and was flattered how I had chosen cards to represent myself and her, along with a card for our love within it."

Pausing for a moment, he finally continued on. "Then one day, I lost a duel for my very soul. When I lost, I was sent to the Shadows for punishment. I was to spend eternity there, never to see the one I loved ever again. I stayed there for who knows how long, only keeping myself sane by memorizing the cards in my deck."

"And then finally, I was released into this world, into Dark World, as part of a bargain with the darkness. I was to serve the one that wished to resurrect a great power. That is mine and the other Fallen Angels purpose?"

"Fallen Angels?" Illidan muttered in a whisper.

"Yes, the Fallen Angels. We have our own priorities, ones that you will never know about, but I will tell you this much. There are seven of us altogether. Myself and my Master, along with the other five, are striving towards a goal that was once thought impossible to achieve. Soon we will achieve it where others have failed."

"And Yubel, she is one of you, isn't she?" Illidan asked inquisitively.

Frowning, Beelzebub shook his head, replying with "No, she is not. She was an ally, but now is a traitor. Her and her accomplice are nothing but flees to us now. She and her accomplice will soon find themselves in the Shadows. Besides, they are nothing but small fry compared to you."

Once more smirking, he added "My Master had fear that you would interfere with our plans, that you would be the one to stop us, but I can see he was wrong now. You lack the power, the ambition, and the darkness within your soul to stop us. Nothing you can do will ever stop us. Do you see how futile your efforts are? Once I finish with you, the only thing left to do will be for me and the other five Fallen Angels to take out the remainder of your friends and find your wife."

Eyes widening, Illidan yelled "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"Ah, but we can't." Beelzebub calmly remarked. "You see, my Master wishes to have her along side of him, much like your daughter is now. Once he has both, he will be able to complete what we have been trying to achieve."

Clenching his teeth together, Illidan attempted to stand, but the pain shooting through is chest stopped him from doing so. "I won't allow you to harm her!" Illidan lowly growled out with his head down.

"Do you think you can stop us? How will you do so?" Beelzebub questioned. "Please, by all means, do tell."

Not receiving a response, Beelzebub casually said "I see, so you don't know how. The power you possess now is limited, isn't it? What a shame that you don't release that inner rage. If you ever chose to use the power of darkness within your heart, I would almost guess that your power would be greater than my Master's, but not likely. After all, you are too afraid to ever let go of this façade of kindness."

Sighing, Beelzebub calmly said "In any case, this duel is over. I end my turn, so make your final move." (Beelzebub 8000, Illidan 1300)


	28. Chapter 28: Temptation, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, not a whole lot new in my life. Last week, I went to my grandparents once more. My grandfather seems to be doing well enough. Other than that, not a whole lot has changed with me I suppose.**

**Writing wise, things are moving rather nicely with this story, to an extent, lol. The same can be said about **_**Another**_** also. Hopefully, with any luck, I can began posting two chapters for this story once more in the near future, but no promises at this moment.**

**Last time, Illidan and Marie had a fight, with him walking off. After cooling off, he decided to return to her, only to be challenged before reaching her by a Fallen Angel named Beelzebub. Beelzebub has seemingly challenged everything that Illidan has always believed in, with him now wondering if he can win or not. With only a handful of life points left, can Illidan defeat this Fallen Angel, or will he lose his soul?**

**Yay, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: It's alright, hehe. I hadn't realized I misspelled fleas. I must have been paying no attention, hehe. But as for Beelzebub knowing that Yubel beat the other Fallen Angels, he doesn't know yet. Remember, they were all sent out at once, so Beelzebub has had no real contact with the others. But yes, the combo you've seen is Metal Overlord 2.0's. Glad you think I did the combo rather well. Yep, Illidan is in real trouble at the moment. It seems like Beelzebub has a counter to everything Illidan does. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Heh, I'm glad you're happy to see your Kozaky deck in play at long last, hehe. Ah, cool about the name. Ardee actually named him, hehe. I wanted to just call him L, but that didn't work out. Glad you think I handled your strategy rather well. It was fun adding in counter measures to keep Illidan in a rut too. Lol, yes, I had to have Kozaky's reaction to Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, hehe. Very true, Beelzebub's character is hard to figure out. It is kind of like he's cold, yet detached to emotion at the same time, yet he seems to have flickers of emotion also. True, you'd think Beelzebub would have some sympathy for Illidan over protecting Marie and Arya, but you have to remember, the Fallen Angels have an agenda, so he can't go getting soft due to the similar characteristics that the two may have. But yes, it's fun to watch Beelzebub pushing Illidan's unyielding resolve to keep fighting. Heh, yeah, it does give you some inspiration. Think of that inspiration as a prefight to this, hehe. I'm glad you liked what I did with this chapter, and I hope you like this one coming up. Thanks for your review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Very true, one has to wonder how Illidan will get himself out of this mess. He's been in tough fights like this before, but now he's backed into a corner. Turn dark like Jaden did, eh? Never know. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all for the reviews for this round. Thank you three for your reviews, I really enjoyed them. I truly appreciate each of your reviews, just so you know. They're helpful in gauging if what I'm writing is still on the mark or not.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. Enjoy gang!**

**Chapter 28**

Panting lightly, Illidan sat on his hands and knees still. Blood continued to drip down from his wounds, but he ignored it. The words of Beelzebub caused him more pain than his wounds did.

"_I'm not strong enough... After all this time, thinking I was strong enough to protect my family, my friends, and everyone else, I come to find out the strength I require is not there. If I lose to Beelzebub, it's all over._"

Clenching his right hand tightly till his nails dug into his skin and blood was drawn, Illidan growled out in his mind "_No! I won't give up here! There has to be a way!_"

Weakly, he moved his left hand to look at the remaining card he had. Seeing it, he frowned even further. "_This card, it could win me the duel, but even if I summoned it, it would be just as weak as my other monsters in defense. And I only have one last draw before Beelzebub takes me out. What do I do? What do I do!?_"

Tightly closing his eyes, Illidan screamed out in his mind in anger when the words of Beelzebub began ringing in his ears. "_What a shame that you don't release that inner rage. If you ever chose to use the power of darkness within your heart, I would almost guess that your power would be greater than my Master's, but not likely. After all, you are too afraid to ever let go of this façade of kindness._"

"_Could the darkness in my soul be strong enough to help me win this duel and save those that I have sworn to protect?_"

Images of Chazz and Kevin floated into his mind instantly, thinking of them and the sacrifice each had made. "_They're gone, they're gone because I couldn't protect them. I failed each of them. If I lose here, I will fail Marie as well. She'll never survive a duel with Beelzebub, I know it._"

Closing his eyes tightly, Illidan made his decision. "_To defeat the darkness of this world, I myself shall become that very darkness. I will forsake all to stop it. I only pray I can return from it to resume my life, but I have little choice in the matter now. If I don't do this, those that I love and care about will perish, and I cannot allow that!_"

"_Forgive me Marie for what I do. I love you with all my heart, but I must stop this evil, no matter the cost. If it is my soul that must suffer, then so be it. I do this for you and Arya, and for all of our friends and family. No matter what, I will always treasure our time together._"

"_Illidan, giving into darkness is a dangerous path._" his old master, Squall, had once told him in his previous life. "_If you give into it, you will gain great power, but you will lose your soul as well. With power comes sacrifice. You may never return from the darkness. Very few have. So please, my student, never give into it. I should hate to see you lost within it._"

The words of his former master stung Illidan, but he ignored the sting. "_I'm sorry master, but to save those that I love, I will become the very darkness I've fought my entire life. Forgive this student, for being such a fool._"

--

Watching Illidan sit on the ground, panting lightly, Beelzebub frowned. "_What is he doing? I know he's not that injured. That is for certain._"

Without warning, a foul wind began kicking up sand and dirt around the area. Glancing around, Beelzebub soon realized the source of the wind was Illidan. His body was glowing with a black aura while he slowly stood back up.

"_He wouldn't have given into the darkness, would he?_"

Standing straight up, Illidan lifted his head and revealed his eyes, which were no longer brown and full of serenity and kindness. His eyes now were red and full of anger, malice, and hate.

"You will die here." Illidan coldly remarked, making a chill run up Beelzebub's spine.

Drawing his card, Illidan glanced at it and showed it quickly, saying "I play the spell Graceful Charity. Now I draw three cards and discard two."

Picking up three new cards, he examined them and selected two cards from his hand and placed them into his Graveyard Slot. Slapping a monster onto his Duel Disk, he coldly said "I summon Horus' Servant (100/100) in defense."

An Egyptian man dressed in a white battle skirt, white armor over his chest, a black cape on his back, and a golden helmet on his head appeared onto the field in a crouching stance.

"I'm not done yet, for I play the spell Level Modulation! With this, you draw two cards, so pick them up."

Looking oddly at Illidan, Beelzebub obeyed him and drew two cards. Sneering darkly at Beelzebub, Illidan coldly said "Now I get to revive a monster from my Graveyard with the word 'LV' in it. I pick this, my Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

Rising up onto the field while spewing hot black flames from it's mouth was a silver metallic looking dragon, with massive wings, two powerful clawed hands, clawed feet, a strong tail, and an eagle like head. Finishing it's spewing of flames, the dragon landed on the field and let out a horrific roar.

Unfazed, Beelzebub pointed at the silver dragon and said with a bored expression "You forgot about Stumbling, Illidan. Your dragon is forced into defense."

Smirking evilly, Illidan replied "Not quite. You see, I summoned Horus' Servant, as you remember, who negates all spell, trap, and monster effects that would happen to affect it's master. That means Horus is not going to defense. Plus, the secondary effects of Level Modulation are ignored also. Normally, my dragon couldn't attack or use it's effect, but thanks to Horus' Servant, Horus is completely unaffected."

Beelzebub could not help but let a gasp of shock escape his lips, while Illidan yelled "Horus, trash his pathetic Kozaky with Darkness Flames!"

"Wait, Kozaky's Sexy Kitty forces you to attack her when you attack other Kozaky monsters!" Beelzebub protested.

Sneering, Illidan replied "Maybe so, but don't forget, Horus is unaffected by your monster's effect thanks to his servant. Now then, Horus incinerate that pathetic creature!"

Roaring loudly, the silver dragon opened it's jaws and shot a stream of dark flames at the weaker mage. The female cat creature could only watch on with tears in her eyes as her mentor was flash fried by the flames and turned into ash before her very eyes. The remainder of the flames struck Beelzebub, who shielded himself with his left arm. Soon enough, the flames died down, but it was obvious Beelzebub was shaken up.

Evilly chuckling, Illidan smartly said "One down, two to go. Soon Beelzebub, you will fall to your knees once I've crushed you completely. I end my move." (Beelzebub 5900, Illidan 1300)

Staring at Illidan, Beelzebub tried to analyze the young man, but found he was unable to determine anything. "_He gave into the darkness, but did he fully give in? I can't tell. His soul is hidden from me. Before, I could see it. It was powerful, but not at full strength. Now, I wonder if this darkness that has risen will beat me or not._"

Drawing his card, he mumbled in his mind "_Only one way to find out._" "I activate the spell Silent Doom, to resurrect…"

"Not quite." Illidan smugly remarked. "I activate Horus's effect. Whenever you play a spell, I have the choice of negating it or not. I choose to."

Roaring loudly once more, the silver dragon spat a dark fire ball at Beelzebub's hand that was showing the spell card. The card was incinerated by the blast, making Beelzebub growl with irritation.

Glaring at the silver dragon, Beelzebub glanced at the weaker creature beside it and called out "Kozaky's Sexy Kitty, get rid of that eyesore of a weaker creature with Cat Scratch Fever!"

Letting out a small snarl, the female cat creature raced forward and slashed the weaker Egyptian man, making him cry out in pain before shattering.

"I end my turn." Beelzebub 5900, Illidan 1300)

"Pathetic." Illidan coldly remarked while picking up a card. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards."

Grabbing two new cards, Illidan examined them momentarily before saying "Horus, obliterate his so called creature of love. Darkness Flames!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver dragon opened it's jaws, allowing dark flames to erupt from it's mouth. Taking aim, the dragon shot a stream of the dark flames straight for the female purple creature.

"You are so impatient Illidan." Beelzebub remarked. "I activate my trap, Kozaky Defense Network! Your monster is now destroyed and your Battle Phase ends!"

Appearing before the female cat warrior was a set of auto turret lasers. Taking to the controls, the female cat creature took aim and began firing successive blasts at the black flames. The flames were pushed back till finally the laser blasts struck the silver dragon's mouth, making it roar out in pain before shattering.

Glaring darkly at Beelzebub, Illidan slid two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots and said "I set these cards to end." (Beelzebub 5900, Illidan 1300)

Eyeing Illidan's face down cards carefully, Beelzebub drew his new card and placed it within his hand. Glancing at the face down cards again, he frowned.

"_I had been reading his moves perfectly until the turn in which his eyes turned red. Now I can't determine what his moves are. Is it possible he has a plan to stop me now? No, I will not allow him to shake me._"

"I activate Heavy Storm! This spell destroys all spell and trap cards, so say farewell to whatever you had planned." Beelzebub declared.

Swirling on the field, a set of tornados began gliding towards all of the spell and trap cards on both fields.

Smirking, Illidan coldly remarked "I think not. I play my trap, Waboku. For this turn alone, all Battle Damage you try to inflict upon me is reduced to zero."

Growling lightly, Beelzebub replied "Maybe so, but your other card is gone!"

The tornados instantly struck the other remaining face down card, revealing it to be a spell card. At the same time, Beelzebub's own spell card was struck, shattering it.

"I summon Giant Kozaky (2500/2400)!"

Materializing onto the field with a large thud was a huge round robot creature. It appeared to be a larger, robotic version of the purple skinned scientist who had been on the field earlier, with the exception that the robot's body was massively disproportioned. Also, it had four appendages hanging off of it, with two on the top half of it's body and the other two on it's front. The top two had one holding a mallet and the other being a drill. The other two appendages had clamps for hands.

"Unfortunately, due that I summoned Giant Kozaky without Kozaky on the field, he is destroyed by his own special effect."

"Then why bother?" Illidan irritably asked.

Smirking, Beelzebub showed another card, saying "Here is why! I play the spell Giant Kozaky Core Breach! Whenever Giant Kozaky is about to be destroyed by his own effect, this card allows me to sacrifice him instead to bring out a much more fiendish creature to my field. Welcome to the field my ultimate monster, Mutant Kozaky (2900/2800)!"

Instantly, the robot creature vanished from the field, leaving a cloud of gray smoke behind in it's wake. The smoke slowly dissipated, revealing a new creature within it. The creature had purple skin, a tattered white lab coat, ripped grey pants, a mangled black tie, and a pair of shattered glasses on it's nose. Sticking out it's back were several scale like spines that glowed with a green glow. His right arm was abnormal, for it had a lobster claw for an arm, and his legs were that of a dinosaur. Protruding out of his mouth were a pair of mismatching in length fangs. The creature only sneered at Illidan, seemingly showing it's malicious intent.

"Quite the looker, isn't he?" Beelzebub commented.

Looking away in disgust, Illidan smartly remarked "What a pathetic looking creature. I take it he's what represents the darkness within your own soul?"

"Quite a good guess Illidan." Beelzebub replied with a small bit of shock in his voice. "I wouldn't have guessed you'd figure it out, but you did. Yes, he represents my darkness. This creature will be your end. And now then, it's time for his special ability to kick in. For every Kozaky monster in my Graveyard, he gains 300 points. Right now, I have three, so that's 900 bonus points (2900 + 300 3 3800/2800 + 300 3 3700). Plus, he gains an additional 500 points since Kozaky's Sexy Kitty is still out (3800 + 500 4300/3700 + 500 4200)."

Letting out a primordial roar, the purple skinned creature flexed his muscles while his body was engulfed in a bright blue aura. Finishing powering up, the creature slammed it's lobster like claw into the ground, smashing a good sized hole into it.

"Next turn Illidan, you shall fall. Be wary, for your end is coming." (Beelzebub 5900, Illidan 1300)

Hiding his eyes below his bangs, Illidan slightly sneered and then began laughing. His laughter soon became booming, for it filled the entire area with what seemed like insanity.

Confused, Beelzebub asked "Why do you laugh!? Do you find this amusing that your losing?"

"No, I just find it funny that I'm going to tear you to pieces." Illidan remarked with a sneer.

Slightly chuckling, Beelzebub calmly replied "Really? Then let's see you carry out this so called threat on my life."

"Gladly." Illidan remarked while drawing a card. Showing it to Beelzebub, he said "I activate the spell Card of Sanctity, letting us both draw till we hold six cards."

Beelzebub let out a small grunt and picked up four cards while Illidan drew six new ones himself. Smirking at them, he held up a new card and said "I think it's time to open my options up, so I play Card Destruction. This spell forces us to each discard our hands to the Graveyard and draw the same number of cards we discard from our decks."

Shrugging, Beelzebub did as he was told and placed all six cards into his Graveyard while Illidan followed suit. Simultaneously, the pair picked up a new set of cards, with Illidan drawing five and Beelzebub getting six.

"A foolish move Illidan. You're wasting your time by discarding and drawing cards." Beelzebub commented.

Sneering, Illidan replied "I don't care. I activate the spell Monster Reborn, allowing me to bring back a servant of mine from the Graveyard. Come to your master's call, Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Rising up onto the field instantly in a fiery pentagram was a blue skinned mage with mid-back length black hair, wearing tight fitting black leather armor and a strange mage's hat, wielding a long sleek black staff. Opening his eyes, the mage swung his staff, quelling the flames instantly. His eyes were red with yellow corneas.

Glancing at Illidan, the mage slightly gasped and weakly asked "_Master Illidan…_"

"Quiet." Illidan commanded darkly. "Thanks to my servant's revival, I get to add a spell to my hand from my Graveyard, so I pick the Chaos Fusion I sent with Card Destruction."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Illidan sneered when the card pushed out into his awaiting hand. Picking it up, he called out "I next remove from play my Silent Magician LV4 and Exarion Universe to call forth Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Materializing onto the field beside of the blue skinned mage was a warrior in full body black shiny armor, with gold trim on it. In his right hand was a bronze sword, while in his left was a powerful shield. On his head was a helmet with an open face, revealing his skin was light green, with long brown hair falling down his back.

"But it's not over yet!" Illidan declared fiercely. "I next remove from play my Tsukuyomi and Cyber Dragon to bring forth Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Emerging onto the field instantly was a black dragon with an orange mane, powerful black wings, a long strong tail, large and strong clawed arms and legs. The dragon let out a massive roar, attempting to strike fear into the monsters on the field, but did little.

The two newcomers beside of the mage glanced back at Illidan, each in a bit of shock. They glanced back towards the mage, looking for an explanation, but received none.

"_What is going on Master Illidan?_" the soldier questioned with a look of surprise on his face.

Nodding, the dragon added "_Master, why is there such a dark aura around you?_"

"Quiet, both of you." Illidan hissed, surprising all three monsters. "I will speak to you when I'm ready."

Glaring at Beelzebub, Illidan showed another card, saying "It's time to show you the card that will bring about your end. I play the spell Chaos Fusion, fusing my Black Luster Soldier, Dark Magician of Chaos, and Chaos Emperor Dragon together to create a beast of untold power!"

"_Wait Master Illidan, don't do this!_" the mage declared with fear in his eyes.

Throwing a glare at the mage, Illidan growled out "Silence! You are my creatures, so do as I command! Merge together now, and bring forth Beelzebub's destroyer!"

Grudgingly, the three, the mage, the warrior, and dragon, began swirling together, causing lightning to suddenly begin flashing in the sky. The fierce storm raged on, sending lightning everywhere throughout the area, making Beelzebub cover his face to keep the wind from blowing sand in his eyes. At long last, a single bolt of lightning struck the field before Illidan, sending out a loud clap of thunder, along with a loud crashing sound.

Smoke flooded the area upon the strike, hiding what had landed. Slowly, the smoke dissipated, revealing large black wings, a long spear with a huge blade on the end of it, and a long black tail. The smoke soon receded from the upper air, revealing the face of the creature, that was horrific looking, with twin horns sticking off the sides of it's jaws, a white scruffy like beard, sharp teeth, a mane of green flames, and glowing flaming eyes. On it's shoulders were large shoulder pads, that held two huge chains, each holding up a chest plate to it's stomach. The creature had two large, powerful arms, with four legs, giving it the appearance of a half man, half horse creature, except for the legs being move of a dragon. The creature let out a monstrous roar, shaking everything in the area and making the monsters across from it quiver in fear.

Darkly chuckling, Illidan pointed at the flame headed creature. In a dark, cold voice, he said "Meet my newest Chaos creature, Chaos Demon God – Envoy of Oblivion (4500/4200)!"

Letting out another loud roar, the creature spat flames from it's jaws, increasing the heat in the area by many degrees. Beelzebub stared at the creature with no fear, but was clenching his right fist.

"You should fear him Beelzebub, because he brings not only chaos with him, but your end as well." Illidan coolly remarked. "I activate my creature's special ability! Once summoned, we are each allowed to special summon monsters from our Graveyards to our field."

Gasping in surprise, Beelzebub stilled and said "I choose these two then. First, I call up Giga Gagagigo (2450/1500), and then my Gogiga Gagagigo (2950/2800), both in defense mode."

Appearing onto the field side by side were two reptile like creatures. The first was a green lizard like creature with numerous silver robotic implants on his body, giving him numerous spikes sticking out. Next to the creature appeared a red muscular creature with golden robotic implants and numerous spikes sticking out. Both instantly took up kneeling positions.

"Very well, coward." Illidan commented. "As for me, I choose Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500), Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600), Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500), and Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

Rising up onto the field first was the black armored warrior. Next to him reappeared the black armored mage, who had the black dragon with an orange mane roar onto the field beside of him. Finally, a silver dragon materialized onto the field beside of the three.

"One last thing." Illidan coldly said. "Whenever Chaos Demon God's effect is activated, all monsters on the field are forced into attack mode."

Beelzebub's eyes widened greatly when suddenly three of his monsters stood up from their kneeling positions. Glancing from monster to monster, he looked in confusion, and then in fear.

Quietly, he mumbled "I see…"

"Yes, you do." Illidan darkly chuckled. "This is your end Beelzebub. The foolishness you have committed will not go unpunished. This is your last stand. Have any words you wish to say to me before I end your pathetic life?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Beelzebub finally reopened them and muttered "I would never have guessed you'd allow the darkness to take you. To willingly sink into it, you must truly wish to save those that you care about. I did, long ago, but if you're anything like me, you will find out, that eventually, the darkness will erase everything that you wished to protect. I only wish I could enjoy watching you lose all that you care about."

"You talk too much." Illidan remarked. "But I'll shut you up. Dark Magician of Chaos, reduce his so called proof of love into nothingness with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Weakly nodding, the mage pointed his staff at the weaker female purple creature. She meekly looked towards him, with a look of sadness. Ignoring it, the mage fired a blast of black magical energy at the creature, making it hiss out in pain before exploding, leaving nothing but smoke behind.

"Unfortunately for your Mutant Kozaky, he loses 500 points, but gains none either since your cat went to the removed from play pile due to my mage's effect (4300 – 500 3800/4200 – 500 3700)." Illidan smugly remarked. "And now, cut his pathetic mutant down with Chaos Incineration my mighty Chaos Demon God!"

Letting out a thunderous roar, the creature reared up on two legs and slammed it's front feet into the ground while slamming the bottom have of it's lance as well. With no warning, lava shot up from the ground underneath of the large odd looking purple creature, which howled in pain before vanishing completely, leaving silence behind.

"I'm far from done. Black Luster Soldier, cut down his two lizards using your special ability! Chaos Slash!"

Glancing at his master and then back at the black dragon and black armored mage, the warrior slightly nodded and rushed forward with his sword out to the side. In a flash, he vanished, only to reappear behind the two lizard creatures in a kneeling stance and his sword held out to his right side and his shield to his left. The creatures soon gasped out in shock as they each had marks across their chests. Each fell over, cut entirely in half before shattering into pixels.

"Chaos Emperor Dragon, rid us of that annoying purple cat with Chaos Blaster!"

Softly growling with hesitation, the black dragon opened it's jaws and spat out a blast of black flames. The blast struck the purple cat creature, making it hiss out before burning away into nothingness and leaving a coughing Beelzebub behind.

"I saved the best for last." Illidan darkly commented with a sinister chuckle. "Horus, take your revenge on Beelzebub and end this duel! Hit him with Darkness Flames!"

Letting out an ear shattering roar, the dragon opened it's silver jaws and shot a stream of black searing flames at Beelzebub. Beelzebub's eyes widened greatly, but he stood in his spot, frozen in fear. The flames enveloped him completely, while his scream of anguish and pain echoed throughout the area.

Illidan only smirked at this while the flames continued to eat away at his body. After a few more torturous moments, the flames receded, revealing a burnt up corpse of Beelzebub. He was alive, but barely, with many burns on his body. His hair was gone, along with most of his clothing.

"And now, be gone to the Shadows." Illidan commanded while Beelzebub began to vanish.

Coughing roughly, Beelzebub muttered "I may have failed, but my Master Lucifer will still win. Just wait…"

Upon his final words being whispered, Beelzebub vanished, leaving nothing behind but his cloak. Illidan's Duel Disk powered down, sending away all the monsters on his field, but three of the monsters reappeared in translucent forms.

"_Master Illidan, what happened?_" the mage asked with worry on his face.

Not answering, Illidan walked over to the cloak and picked it up. He wordlessly threw it over himself, saying "Lucifer, eh? Well, I'll make sure when I find him to let him know his friend is gone."

"_Master Illidan..._" the mage began again, only to be stopped by Illidan throwing a hard glare at him.

"Quiet servant!" Illidan ordered sternly.

Gasping in shock, the mage began to say something, only to have the black armored warrior stop him with a slow shaking head. Quietly, he asked "_Master, please, tell us what has happened._"

"Did I ask for you to speak?" Illidan coldly asked.

Sighing, the warrior quieted. "I thought as much. Be quiet from now on, all three of you. I walk a new path, one in which I will stop this evil. The darkness within me shall destroy this so called Lucifer."

The three creatures glanced from one another and slowly vanished one by one from Illidan's sight. Sneering, Illidan coldly said "Lucifer, I will find you. Mark my words, the sway you have over this world will end soon, and nothing shall get in my way, be it friend or foe."

--

In a large set of rock like towers, Haou stood at a window, looking out at the barren world that he called home. "This world will be mine once more, soon enough." he declared aloud.

Hearing something, he glanced over his shoulder to find one of his loyal fiend monsters bowing deeply to him on one knee. The creature wore a purple suit and white gloves, with a purple hat that had a black strip on it. His skin was orange, his eyes green, and hair was blonde.

"What is it? I asked to not be disturbed." Haou stated.

Cowering, the creature weakly replied "I realize that my lord, but I have news of the Fallen Angels that was just reported."

Raising an eyebrow, Haou asked "What news is that, Witty Phantom?"

"News that one of them lost a battle, my lord." Witty Phantom replied. Receiving a nod to rise, the fiend stood up and said "It appears the one known as Beelzebub battled with a human that led the group of humans from that other dimension to this world. And apparently, the battle was a rather harsh one, for all traces of Beelzebub were gone."

"I see…" Haou murmured. "The human, did he have long brown hair and brown eyes?"

"He did have long brown hair, my lord." the fiend commented slowly. "But, the rest of the report was sketchy, to say the least. The fiend that witnessed the battle only saw the end of it. He said that the ending was horrific for Beelzebub, that the human that did this was very sinister and crushed Beelzebub with a silver dragon that shot out a stream of dark flames. Also, the fiend said that the human was using the legendary Chaos monsters that have long since been thought in hiding or extinct."

Smirking, Haou calmly said "I see. Bring me the fiend that saw the fight."

Bowing deeply, the orange skinned fiend replied "Yes my master."

Alone once more, Haou glanced out the window towards the east. "_Hmm, perhaps it was Illidan, but I can't be certain. Illidan Stormrage, from what I saw of him, never left a battle like that. No, something is different, perhaps._"

The sound of footsteps soon filled the air, making Haou turn once more towards the incoming fiends. The new fiend, led by the orange skinned fiend, was a blue muscular creature, with a single eye on the top of his head. He was shaking quite a bit, seemingly nervous to be in Haou's presence, which Haou had instilled into all of his troops.

Instantly, the two fiends fell into a kneeling position, making Haou finally motion for them to stand. Staring at each with his golden eyes, Haou asked "You, Hiro's Shadow Scout, you saw the end of the battle?"

"Yes my lord…" the blue fiend mumbled while looking downwards.

"Tell me, what did the human that won look like." Haou commanded.

Pausing for a moment, the blue fiend finally said "He had long brown hair, my lord, and wore a black shirt with a red dragon imprint on it, and blue pants."

"What color were his eyes?" Haou asked with a touch of impatience.

Shaking with even more fear than before, the fiend slowly muttered "His eyes… his eyes were… they were devil like eyes my lord! They were pure red, full of evil and malice!"

Frowning, Haou rolled the words around in his mind for a moment before saying "You said you saw the legendary Chaos monsters. What did they look like?"

"One was a blue skinned mage wearing black armor, another was a warrior in black armor with gold trim, and finally a black dragon. But there was another creature, a more demonic creature, that was spoke of in legends as one of the more powerful of the Chaos creatures." the blue fiend hurriedly said.

"This demonic creature," Haou began, "what did it look like?"

Closing his eye tightly, the blue fiend quickly said "Please Supreme King, don't make me think of it! It was a brute of a creature, and I never wish to see it again. Just looking at it sent shivers down my spine!"

Pondering on the fiend's words, Haou said "Very well then, you may go. Witty Phantom."

"Yes my lord?" the orange skinned fiend asked inquisitively.

Turning around, Haou said "Tell my commanders and my army to prepare to move out soon. We will hunt down this human and take all of his power away."

Slightly excited, the orange skinned fiend replied "Yes master, it shall be done!"

Both fiends quickly left Haou alone while he glanced out his window once more with an evil smirk on his face. "So Illidan, you gave into the darkness. The question now is, will your power be a good challenge, or not."


	29. Chapter 29: Past Foes, Pt 1

**Hey everyone! Well, not too much new. This past weekend, my mate and I went and saw "Dark Knight." I must say, it was an excellent movie, probably my second favorite Batman movie, if not tied for first, with "Batman Begins" as my favorite. But again, it was an excellent movie, and I advise anyone who is thinking about going or likes Batman at all, I'd say go. It's well worth it. Heath Ledger did an excellent job in it as the Joker, and I think he played the best version of the Joker that I've seen since I've watched the series. At any rate, other than that, nothing else really happened. I went and saw my grandfather, who is doing well enough still. I sometimes worry about him due that he mentions he saw or talked with people who have been dead for a while. It isn't too worrisome, but just a little I suppose. I joked with my grandmother once I talked with her, saying she had a few messages according to grandpa from her parents. (/Shrugs\) I don't know, I guess I just worry for him. I'm thankful that he's still here, but I always ponder what will happen when he's gone. I guess I'll just be thankful for the time with him.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along nicely for both of my stories. I've hit a great part in **_**Another**_** that I've had lots to write on, plus I've hit some interesting chapters in this story. I've been inspired to write in each, so we'll see how that goes.**

**Last time, Illidan gave into his own darkness in his heart, allowing it to take him entirely and grant him more power than he's ever had. With his new power, he crushed Beelzebub quickly and showed a new Chaos Fusion monster, which decimated Beelzebub completely. The question now is, what will Illidan do from here on?**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: LOL! That's a strong possibility that Haou is no longer the most powerful force in Dark World since Illidan has become dark. Heh, yes, I'm sure many have pondered what would happen when Illidan finally snapped, and honestly, I was thinking the same thing. He's been tempted in the past, but never to this degree, and this time it was too much. True, he became far more powerful than many though probably, hehe. Yeah, I guess I can see the similarities between Illidan and Anakin Skywalker. Both had good intentions, but the darkness consumed each. The question is, will Illidan let it rule him forever, or will he meet the same fate as Anakin. But yes, I created a new fusion of the Chaos monsters to prove just how dark and ruthless Illidan now is. Heh, yep, the previous versions of the Chaos cards seem weak compared to this new one, lol. I'm glad you really liked this chapter, and I'm sorry I had to have Illidan blow away your Kozaky strategy, but here is some consolation: it took Beelzebub's deck and mind games to push Illidan to this point, so he gets some credit, lol. True, there are so many sides now, making the future very unsure. You have the remaining Fallen Angels (down to two now, lol), Yubel and her accomplice, Haou, the others trying to stop them all, and now a darker Illidan has joined in the mix. Oh, you'll see what this darker Illidan is capable of soon enough, that is for certain. Thanks for the great review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yep, he turned dark, lol. Oh, Beelzebub was right about what, that it will consume and destroy Illidan eventually? Thanks for the review.**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Yes, Illidan wanted cookies. He needs cookies! True, you have to wonder if anyone can stop Illidan now that he's become dark and ultra powerful. No, not the dreaded commercials! Thanks for the review, lol.**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. I appreciate all three of you for sending in your reviews. They were very helpful in giving me some feedback on what happened. Again, I thank each of you for your reviews once more.**

**I'm officially done for today, so I hope you all like this chapter. The person in this chapter was the original reason I began this whole sequel since I left it as unfinished in **_**TFG**_**. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 29**

Glancing around the woods, Zane let out a huff. "Great, I'm lost…" he muttered.

"_I'm an excellent duelist, but my directional skills just plain suck. If Illidan or Jaden were around, they could just use their Shadow Magic to summon some monsters or find their way out, but my powers are so weak and underdeveloped that I have no clue what to do._"

Hearing a roar off in the distance, he felt his pulse quicken. Moving in the direction of the roar, he powered up his Duel Disk and prepared to make his move. Approaching the place where he had heard the roar, he drew four cards. Glancing at them, he saw they were his three Cyber Dragons and Power Bond.

"_Cyber End Dragon should be able to deal with whatever I run into, so long as it isn't Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon._" he mused to himself.

Getting closer, he felt his mind begin racing as random thoughts struck him. The loss of Syrus had deeply changed his way of thinking, plus the coupled loss to Seto Kaiba recently in the tournament made him that much more frustrated. "_I was simply swept aside by Kaiba so he could go on and face Yugi Moto. If it wasn't for that, I'd be fine, but to lose in such a way fully infuriates me._"

Arriving on the outskirts of a clearing, he found a tree and hid behind it. Glancing further into the clearing, he saw a gigantic moth like creature that had dark-blue-patterned wings, a green, plump, cocoon-shaped body, with yellow bulged out eyes and vicious stinger like claws.

Eyeing the creature, he quickly identified it as Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. Scanning the area before the moth, he saw a solemn short figure wearing a black set of robes with a hood drawn. The moth began flapping it's wings, spreading out a deadly poison towards the figure.

Readying himself to call upon his dragon, Zane gasped in shock when instead, a sphere of black Shadow Magic formed in the hand of the figure. Aiming it at the moth, the figure launched the Shadow Magic, scoring a direct hit on the moth and causing a large explosion. Falling from the sky, the remains of the moth slammed into the ground, knocking a few trees over in the process before slowly dissolving away.

Brows furrowed, Zane stepped out from behind the tree while holding onto his four cards tightly. Making his presence known, he gruffly asked "Who are you?"

Standing still, the figure slowly turned towards Zane and pushed the hood back off of his head, revealing teal colored locks and glasses. In a gasp, Zane muttered in disbelief "It can't be…"

"I'm here, big brother." the soft voice of Syrus said.

Staring at his brother's face for a few moments in total shock, Zane couldn't find any words to say. He wished to run to his brother and hug him to himself, just to make sure he was real, but the hardened, logical part of his mind told him not to.

Smirking at Zane's shocked gaze, Syrus's eyes suddenly changed into a light blue color, and his voice changed into a harder drawl. "Or should I say… Hello, Mr. Truesdale."

Eyes widening even more, Zane clenched his jaw tightly upon recognition of the owner of the voice. In a tight, clipped tone, he coldly said "Zell…"

"Precisely." the voice declared while folding Syrus's arms over his body.

In a heated tone, Zane growled out "I should have expected it. Only a coward like you could do something like that to my brother."

"But of course, and I'm sure you're dying to know how this happened." Zell smugly remarked. "For now though, I'm not going to tell you. You should know, I've come to dislike this body. It's weak. This brat has a lot of migraines, that much I can inform you of."

Smirking at Zane's reaction and seeing the anger and fury burning within his teal orbs, Zell smartly said "How about a deal? We'll have ourselves a duel. If you win, I'll abandon this body and be destroyed forever, and you can have your little brother back once more. I'll even fill you in on our adventures together."

"Why am I not seeing the flip side?" Zane snarled.

Smirking once more, Zell smugly replied "Ah yes, if I and when I win, I get your body for a vessel, and your little brother will still be free. Sounds like a win/win situation for you, doesn't it? It's a good deal, and you know it."

Remaining quiet for a few moments, Zane pulled his deck out and shuffled it and jammed it back into his Duel Disk's Deck Slot. "Very well, I accept your challenge."

"Excellent."

"Be fully aware though Zell, that I will crush you for your insolence towards my little brother! For what you did to him, you will pay dearly!" Zane growled out with anger flaring in his eyes.

"We shall see, but the question is, do you have the guts to harm your baby brother? It is his body after all, so any pain you inflict upon me is his pain." Zell commented while moving into position. Activating his own Duel Disk, he placed his deck into it and readied himself.

Clenching his fists tightly till his nails dug into his palms, Zane powered up his own Duel Disk. "Shut your mouth! When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you had never inhabited mine or my brother's bodies!"

"Talk is cheap, so allow me to show you that you should not meddle in things that are bigger than yourself." Zell remarked with a sneer.

The pair drew five cards simultaneously, with each saying "Duel!"

"I'll make the first move." Zell said while drawing a new card. Setting a card onto his Duel Disk horizontally and sliding a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, he calmly said "I set this monster and a face down card. I believe that'll do, so let's see your ultimate machine deck defeat me." (Zell 8000, Zane 8000)

Drawing his sixth card, Zane snarled out "It will and I'll free my brother! Since you have a monster out and I don't, I can special summon this card, my Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field quickly was a silver machine snake like dragon, which curled up part of it's body while letting out a small growl.

"Next I summon Infernal Dragon (2000/0)!"

A tower of flames shot up from the ground without warning, and slowly from it, a dragon with black skin and a white under belly materialized onto the field in an offensive stance. It had sharp clawed feet and hands, with a strong tail that had a sharp pitchfork like end, large blade like spikes sticking out from it's knees and backside, mighty wings with black on the outside and red on the inside, and an iguana like hood on it's face.

"Not bad." Zell commented. "Two monsters with at least 2000 attack points, and in just one turn. There is a problem though: I know your strategies, inside and out. Lest you forget, I used your deck when I was in your body and learned every aspect of it before I dueled that foolish slave girl. That is why I built this deck to counter your own."

"SHUT UP!" Zane snapped. "Infernal Dragon, incinerate his creature with Inferno Blaze!"

Letting out a small roar, the dragon opened up it's jaws, allowing a sphere of flames to begin forming within it's mouth. The sphere continued to grow and grow till it was much larger than the dragon's head. In a roar of anger, the dragon spat the blazing sphere of energy at the face down card image on the field.

The image instantly vanished and was replaced by a orange-red tomato with sharp fangs protruding from it's mouth, a long tongue, crazy yellow corneas with red irises, and veins on the top of it's forehead. In a loud shriek, the tomato was hit, causing it to splatter all over the field before fading away.

With a slight smirk, Zell declared "You just destroyed Mystic Tomato (1400/1100). When it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I get to special summon a Dark Attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points in it's place. My choice is this, another Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)!"

Searching out his deck, Zell finally found the proper card and slapped it to his Duel Disk, causing another tomato creature to form before him.

"They help one another, much like brothers, although that can't be said for Syrus, eh Zane?"

Clenching his right fist tightly, Zane yelled "SHUT UP!"

Smirking at the reaction, Zell simply asked "Strike a nerve?"

Feeling his heart pounding within his chest and the anger coursing through him, Zane attempted to reign in his emotions, knowing they would be his downfall if he let them continue to rage within him. Regaining some control, he pointed at the tomato and declared "Cyber Dragon, blast that thing with Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon took aim and fired a stream of white energy at the tomato, destroying the tomato rather easily.

Clapping his hands mockingly, Zell nonchalantly said "Well done big brother, but your good dueling doesn't account for the fact that you were unable to save Syrus, isn't that right?"

"Just shut up!" Zane snarled while grasping his head in his hands. "I am going to make you pay for what you did to my little brother, I swear it!"

Sneering, Zell smugly said "Well, you'll have to get through my third Mystic Tomato (1400/1100) first, which seems beyond your means at this point."

Materializing onto the field in the place of the old one, a new tomato smirked evilly at the two dragons across from it.

Grunting irritably, Zane muttered "I end my turn, in which my Infernal Dragon's effect kicks in, destroying it."

Letting out a soft roar, the black dragon exploded into millions of pixels, leaving only the machine dragon behind. (Zell 7300, Zane 8000)

Drawing his card without a word, Zell smirked and slapped the new card onto his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Brron, Mad King of Dark World (1800/400)."

An insane cackling echoed from somewhere in the clearing, and then a tall, gangly form materialized immediately into sight in front of Zell. He had long, spiky hair and an insane grin. However, he looked a little skeletal, and his legs seemed a little unbalanced. He was also covered in a dark-green cape that looked to be made out of royalty.

"It's too weak to battle my dragon." Zane commented confidently.

"Perhaps, but he'll still be a thorn in your side. I equip him with spell Axe of Despair, boosting his attack points by 1000 (1800 + 1000 2800/400)!"

Appearing above the gangly fiend was a long axe with a sharp blade on it. Reaching up and taking hold of it, the fiend let out a sinister cackle while swinging it about in readiness to fight.

"Brron, show him what you're made of and destroy that pathetic Cyber Dragon! Axe of Madness!"

Letting out a loud cackle, the crazed fiend raced across the field and leapt high into the air. Coming down at a blinding speed at the weaker machine dragon, the fiend buried it's axe into the dragon's forehead, making it howl in pain for a moment before it split in two and exploded.

Darkly chuckling, Zell tauntingly asked "It hurts, doesn't it Zane? And it's only the beginning, for once I attack with Brron, his special ability has me discard a card from my hand."

"Discard a card? What kind of crazy effect is that!?" Zane questioned.

"A handy one, for I send this, my Broww, Huntsman of Dark World (1400/800) to my Graveyard, which triggers his own special ability. Now I may draw one extra card."

Picking up a card, Zell smirked and pointed at Zane, saying "Mystic Tomato, direct attack him!"

Letting out a loud shriek, the tomato creature rushed forward at a fast pace. Reaching Zane, it slammed it's full weight into him, forcing Zane to slide backwards and grunt from the flash of pain running through his body.

"I set two face down cards and end my turn." (Zell 7300, Zane 5900)

Grabbing a new card, Zane glanced at it for a moment before slapping it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Proto-Cyber Dragon (1100/600)!"

Rising onto the field was a snake like machine dragon with dull grey skin and wires hanging out of it's body. It let out a soft growl and glared at the two monsters across from itself.

"Pathetic move Zane. If you wanted to lose, why didn't you say so?" Zell taunted.

Smirking, Zane remarked "You're about to find out what I'm truly made of. I play the spell Polymerization, fusing Proto-Cyber Dragon with the Cyber Dragon (2100/1600) in my hand, creating Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2000)!"

Materializing onto the field beside of the older machine dragon was a silver machine snake dragon. The pair swirled together instantly, creating a blinding light. The light soon dulled, revealing a twin headed machine snake like dragon with a single tail.

Sneering at the new creature, Zell smugly commented "What do you intend to do with that? It's even with Brron, meaning if you attack, it'll be a draw."

"I'm not through!" Zane barked back. Grabbing another card from his hand, he showed it, saying "I activate my spell, Pot of Greed! Now I draw two new cards!"

"Sorry Zane, but I chain my two traps! Go Solemn Wishes, and then Appropriate! Appropriate first activates, allowing me to draw two cards whenever my opponent draws cards outside of his own Draw Phase."

Picking up two cards, Zell smirked and pointed at his next trap card. "Next, Solemn Wishes allows me to gain 500 life points each time I draw cards."

Growling softly while he watched Zell's life points increase, Zane drew his two cards and fired back "It won't help you in the end, because I'm playing my Mystical Space Typhoon! This spell allows me to rip up one of your spell or trap cards, so I pick your Axe of Despair (2800 – 1000 1800/400)!"

Gusting up, a spiraling typhoon raced across the field and slammed hard into the fiendish monster, shattering his axe instantly upon impact.

Shrugging, Zell calmly said "I play Axe of Despair's special ability. When it goes to the Graveyard, I'm allowed to sacrifice a monster and then place it back on top of my deck. I send Brron to my Grave and place my spell back on top of my deck."

Vanishing in a flash of light, the fiendish monster let out one last insane cackle before he completely disappeared. Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, Zell patiently waited for the spell to slide out, which did after a moment. Slipping the card on top of his deck, Zell smirked victoriously at Zane, who only glared back.

"You may have returned Axe of Despair to your deck, but you're wide open now! Go Cyber Twin Dragon, blast that tomato with Double Strident Blaze!" Zane declared.

With each head roaring loudly, the twin heads of the machine dragon opened their jaws and released a stream each at the crazed tomato creature. The streams hit hard, shattering the tomato into millions of pixels and making Zell cover his face from the backwash of the explosion.

Smirking slightly, Zell calmly said "Thanks to you destroying my Mystic Tomato, I get to special summon a new Dark Attribute creature from my deck, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling his deck out, Zell thumbed through it till he found the proper card. Slapping it to his Duel Disk, he said "Come forth Gren, Tactician of Dark World (300/500)."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a short fiend with dull grey skin, a large oddly shaped head, and a lean build. The creature wore a green cloak and held a book in it's right hand to it's chest.

"It doesn't matter what you summon to defend you!" Zane roared. "Cyber Twin Dragon's special ability allows it to attack a second time, so go blow that thing away with Double Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the twin headed dragon fired a pair of golden streams of energy at the grey skinned creature.

Smirking, Zell called out "Hold on there, brother! I play my trap, Draining Shield!"

A golden energy shield suddenly formed before the weaker gray skinned creature, which took the full force of the twin streams of golden energy. The barrier held and finally dissipated and sent a stream of golden energy to Zell's Duel Disk.

"Whenever I play Draining Shield, your attack is negated and I gain life points equal to your dragon's attack points. Nice try, big brother." Zell snidely commented.

"_Great, he's found many ways to counter my dragons furious power. I heavily rely on beatdown tactics, and he's planned that out. Now what?_" Zane pondered.

Taking a calming breath, he smoothly said "I set a card and end my turn." (Zell 9200, Zane 5900)

Picking up a new card, Zell smirked and said "Since I just drew, Solemn Wishes grants me 500 life points. Next, I sacrifice Gren to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400/1000)!"

Immediately, the gray skinned fiend vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a towering figure in tattered black robes with gray armor. His shoulder pads were rather thick, with a helmet covering it's head. In the creature's hands before him was a black sphere of energy.

"Now for Caius's special ability. When summoned, he removes one card from play on the field. Your dragon looks like a nice target."

Glaring at the machine dragon, the large gray armored warrior tossed his sphere of black energy straight at the dragon.

With only a short distance left, Zane pointed at his face down card, saying "I think not! I activate the spell De-Fusion! Now my dragon separates into my two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) in defense!"

Glowing with a white light, the machine dragon split off into two beams of white light, which soon took up the forms of two machine snake like dragons coiled up.

A touch irritated, Zell said "Fine then, Caius, destroy one of his Cyber Dragons!"

Raising his hands up once more, the gray armored warrior formed a new black sphere before itself. Aiming at one of the machine dragons, the warrior tossed the sphere of energy at the weaker dragon, making it howl in pain before shattering.

"I think that's enough damage for now." (Zell 9700, Zane 5900)

Drawing a card, Zane lightly growled to himself and grunted out "I pass." (Zell 9700, Zane 5900)

Once more drawing, Zell smirked and said "Come out Zure, Knight of Dark World (1800/1500)!"

Rising up onto the field was a silver skinned demonic creature with a long flowing purple cape, a purple mohawk, and a long sword in his right hand.

"Zure, eliminate his pathetic Cyber Dragon!"

Crossing the field quickly, the demonic warrior quickly slashed through the machine dragon with a clean cut, slicing it completely in two, causing it to roar out in pain before shattering.

"Caius, show Zane your true power! Direct attack!"

Forming a new sphere of black energy in his two hands, the large gray armored warrior threw it towards Zane, who quickly crossed his arms in front of his of his face. Closing his eyes, he felt the impact hit him and pain flow through his body. It took all of his strength and pride to keep from being knocked backwards upon impact from the blast, but once it subsided, he quickly fell to his knees, panting hard.

Smirking at Zane, Zell smugly asked "How can you hope to defeat me? This entire duel, I've been simply playing with you. Your pathetic beatdown strategy can never overcome my new deck. Surrender now, and you will spare yourself from all kinds of hellish pain. When I take your body back as my own, I'll give you the pleasure of watching me eliminate your pathetic brother's body. I hate this lump of flesh, but it is what keeps me here. Last time you were saved by the pharaoh's whore, but this time, there is no one to save you!"

Weakly standing, Zane hid his eyes below his bangs. Raising his face to look at Zell, he snarled out with fury in his eyes "I will defeat you this time!"

"Really?" Zell challengingly questioned. "Feel free to try. I end my turn." (Zell 10200, Zane 3500)

Clenching his right fist, Zane stared at his deck for a moment. "_This duel has barely even begun and yet Zell has pulled out a large lead. I cannot allow him to defeat me! I have to take him down and free my little brother, no matter the cost._"

Drawing his card, Zane slapped it to his Duel Disk, saying "I special summon my final Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

Rising up onto the field, another machine snake like dragon let out a low mechanical roar, seemingly warning that it was prepared to fight.

"Cyber Dragon, take out his Zure! Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon fired a stream of white energy straight for the silver skinned warrior. The stream struck the warrior hard, making howl in pain. Finally, the blast destroyed the warrior, leaving Zell shielding his face while growling with irritation.

"I'll set a face down and end my turn." (Zell 9900, Zane 3500)

"Defiant till the end, eh Zane?" Zell questioned while drawing a card. "Fine then, be that way. I'll crush you and destroy what is left of your pride. Caius, destroy his pathetic dragon!"

Forming a sphere of black energy quickly, the warrior flung it straight at the weaker dragon.

"Not this time!" Zane declared. "I play my trap, Attack Reflector Unit! By sacrificing Cyber Dragon, I'm allowed to special summon my Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800)!"

Glowing with a bright white light, the dragon suddenly began to transform, with it's body growing in length, several spikes shooting out of it's body, a pink colored hood formed around it's neck, and it's eyes turned green.

"Whatever, I'll crush it still!" Zell snapped out.

Smirking, Zane smugly replied "Not quite, for I play Cyber Barrier Dragon's effect. If it's in attack mode, I'm allowed to negate one attack during each round."

Pulling it's head back into the hood, the machine dragon let out a screeching sound as a green barrier formed before it. The black sphere of energy slammed hard into the barrier, but the barrier held, causing the blast to dissolve.

Grunting, Zell slid a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I'll set this and end my turn." (Zell 10400, Zane 3500)

Drawing his new card, Zane examined it and smirked a bit. Slapping the card to his Duel Disk, he declared "It's time I turned up the heat! I summon the mighty Cyberdark Horn (800/800)!"

A metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws with a three purple spots on it's head appeared with a primitive roar.

Staring at the creature, Zell took a step back and gasped in a bit of shock. "I remember that creature… But I thought from the reports I had heard that you no longer used the Underworld Deck that Legato gave you!"

"True, I did quit using it." Zane remarked with a smirk. "But when I decided to come to this world to find my little brother, I knew I'd need all the power I could find to defeat whoever had control of him. That's why I decided to use the Underworld Deck once more, and now it is far more powerful than ever, so don't think I'll be using the same cards I had when you used it."

Pointing at his new creature, Zane promptly said "Now then, it's time I refreshed you on Cyberdark Horn's special ability. When summoned, I may equip him with a level four or below Dragon Type monster from my Graveyard. At this moment, I only have one in my Graveyard, so I equip my Infernal Dragon (2000/0)!"

Rising up onto the field once more was the black dragon with a hood around it's head. It let out a small roar before the machine creature reached out and wrapped it's arms and connected wires to the dragon's body. The dragon let out a loud screech from the pain it felt, but soon settled.

"I'm sorry for your pain, Infernal Dragon." Zane whispered while staring at the dragon that had quieted. Raising his voice, he said "I will do whatever it takes to save my little brother, so watch as Cyberdark Horn's secondary effect kicks in. My Horn now gains the attack points of my Infernal Dragon (800 + 2000 2800/800)!"

Letting out a soft growl, the bug like creature glowed with a dark aura as it's strength quickly increased.

"Cyberdark Horn, destroy Caius with Horn Needle!"

Aiming all four of it's pronged arms at the gray armored warrior, the bug like machine creature fired a stream of black energy from each prong. The energy quickly crossed the field and slammed heavily into the warrior, making it scream out in pain before shattering completely into millions of pixels. The remainder of the attack struck Zell, making him grunt out with the minor amount of pain.

Watching Zell flinch from the pain, Zane almost took an involuntary step forward towards his brother's body, but stopped when he saw Zell's dark smirk.

"I can see it in your eyes. You're like an open book to me." Zell commented. "You are having doubts about fighting me. True, you want vengeance, but at the cost of hurting your own little brother? Even if you somehow win this duel, will little Syrus's body be able to withstand the damage that you've inflicted upon me?"

Feeling the sting of Zell's words, Zane fired back "Shut up!"

"_I hate to say it, but he's right. The more I drag this battle out, the more than likely Syrus's body will be injured by me. Can I actually do this to him?_"

Closing his eyes, he reopened them slowly. Staring into the arctic blue eyes of his brother, Zane knew his answer immediately. "_I must stay the course and save my brother, no matter what I have to do._"

"Cyber Barrier Dragon, give him a taste of your Defensive Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon sucked it's head back into it's hood once more and let out a loud screech as a wave of green energy shot forward, striking Zell head on. As the impact hit, Zell let out a scream of pain.

In a small voice, Zane heard his brother's voice say "Help me, brother!"

Unable to keep his emotions from rising to the surface, Zane looked away with a pained look and muttered "I end my turn." (Zell 9200, Zane 3500)

Picking up a new card, Zell smirked at it and said "I'll begin with this spell, Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three more cards, but forces me to toss out two when I'm done."

Grabbing three cards, Zell examined them for a moment before picking two and placing them into his Graveyard. Sneering, he smugly remarked "You're in serious trouble now Zane, for I just discarded a powerful monster known as Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World (2300/1400). When discarded, I'm allowed to special summon him to my field. Rise up Goldd!"

Forming on the field before Zell was a large, skeletal like monster that was clad in heavy golden armor, with enormous shoulder pads, spike like golden wings on it's back, a blackish-yellow torso, and carried a large axe with both hands. The creature's eyes instantly glowed crimson upon stretching out.

"It's a strong monster, but not nearly strong enough to battle my Cyberdark Horn." Zane sternly commented.

Smirking, Zell cocked his head to the side and replied "Really? Well then, I suppose you shouldn't have any problems in defeating him. It's pointless for me to attack you due to your Cyber Barrier Dragon, so I end my move." (Zell 10200, Zane 3500)

Snapping off a card quickly, Zane pointed at the golden creature and yelled "Cyberdark Horn, tear that thing apart with Horn Needle!"

Roaring loudly, the machine creature fired four black streams of dark energy at the golden creature, who only merely growled out at the attack.

"So predictable." Zell wistfully commented. Rising up next to him, he pointed at his new card, saying "I play my spell, Rush Recklessly. This grants Goldd an additional 700 attack points for this turn (2300 + 700 3000/1400). Looks like your little machine dragon bit off too much. Counter now Goldd!"

Letting out a disgruntled grunt, the golden creature raced forward, using it's axe to slice through the oncoming black energy. The energy went spraying randomly across the field as the golden armored creature continued rushing towards the bug like machine creature. Finally reaching it, the golden creature swung it's axe at the machine creature, striking it hard in the chest, causing a massive explosion with smoke hiding the results.

The smoke soon dissipated at the golden creature landed back on Zell's field. Out of the smoke reappeared the bug like machine creature, but the dragon that was attached to it was missing.

"Ah yes, I remember now. Whenever Cyberdark Horn would have been destroyed, it's equip card takes the fall instead (2800 – 2000 800/800)." Zell commented. "Still, your dragon is left rather weak, not to mention, you only have that pathetically weak dragon. Not like you can do much now."

Slightly growling, Zane looked over his two monsters. "_Damn, I can't switch Horn to defense now that it's weaker. I could switch my Barrier Dragon to defense, but I need Horn more than it. I guess I have no choice, but I'll still lose a good bit of life points either way. I only hope he picks off Barrier Dragon if he does anything._"

"I end my turn." (Zell 10200, Zane 3300)

Drawing a new card quickly, Zell chuckled darkly and smugly said "Perfect! I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World (1600/1300)!"

A grey skinned creature with light golden armor and a spear in hand materialized onto the field and glared at Zane.

"Beiige, destroy his pathetic Cyberdark Horn!"

Letting out a hearty battle cry, the silver skinned creature raced forward with it's spear ready to pierce the insect like machine.

Clenching his jaw, Zane called out "I activate Cyber Barrier Dragon's special ability, allowing me to negate your attack."

Pulling it's head back into the hood on it's neck, the dragon let out a howling screech as a green barrier formed before it. The silver skinned warrior slammed his spear heavily into the barrier, only causing sparks to form. At long last, the creature gave up and leapt back to Zell's field.

"You just sealed your Barrier Dragon's fate! Goldd, crush that dragon!"

Sneering, the creature raced forward with it's axe glowing a dark golden color. Reaching the machine dragon, the golden fiend slashed at the dragon's head, decapitating it in a single swipe. The dragon's head went flying and smashed onto the ground with a heavy thud while the remainder of it's body exploded. Continuing on forward, the golden creature slammed the heavy end of it's axe into Zane's gut, making him cry out in pain and fall to one knee and try regaining his breath.

"Hah!" Zell laughed. "My life points are over six times your own life points, not to mention I have a powerful monster on my field. How do you plan to survive my wrath? If you give up now, I'll spare you ego and pride from complete defeat."

Clenching his right fist tightly, Zane forced himself up to his feet, but suddenly felt a sharp pain course over his heart. "_Not this! Not now, of all times!_" he groaned in his mind.

Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he snarled "I will never give up!"

Shrugging, Zell smugly commented "It's your loss, so very well. I end my turn." (Zell 11200, Zane 1800)

Drawing his card slowly, Zane examined it and slid it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots, then picked up his monster card and shifted it to a horizontal position. "I set this card and switch Cyberdark Horn to defense. That's it." (Zell 11200, Zane 1800)

"How pathetic." Zell scoffed while drawing a card. "Beiige, destroy his pathetic excuse for a monster!"

Racing forward, the spear wielding creature reached the machine creature and plunged it's spear deep into the machine. The machine creature instantly howled out in pain and exploded, leaving Zane wide open.

"Goldd, end this!"

Rushing across the field, the golden creature readied to swing it's axe at Zane's chest while sneering in the process.

"I'm not done yet! I play my trap, Power Wall! For every card I send from my deck to the Graveyard, I can lower the Battle Damage I receive by 100 points."

Picking up several cards from his deck, Zane closed his eyes for a moment and finally reopened them, revealing a bit of coldness in them. "I send 23 cards to my Grave, meaning I take zero damage."

A golden colored barrier suddenly formed before Zane, taking the hit for the duelist in the black leather coat. The golden creature slammed it's axe hard into the barrier, but the barrier didn't budge or buckle. Instead, it repelled the attack, leaving Zane unharmed.

"You're just delaying the inevitable." Zell coolly said. "I end." (Zell 11700, Zane 1800)

Picking up a card, Zane glanced at it and smirked. "I activate Graceful Charity! Now I draw three new cards, so long as I toss out two."

Snapping off three cards, Zane examined them, only to hear Zell say "Don't forget about Appropriate. Since you just drew, so do I. Also, I gain 500 life points for my troubles."

Watching Zell pick up two cards, Zane shrugged and placed two cards into his Graveyard Slot. "I toss these two cards, and activate the final card to my ultimate strategy. I play the spell Cyberdark Impact!"

Without warning, a cloud of darkness suddenly began to envelop Zane's field, obscuring his body for the most part. Within the cloud, three shadowy creatures appeared.

Holding his hand over his Duel Disk's Graveyard Slot, Zane smirked as two cards slid out. Picking them up, he grabbed a third from his hand and turned the three towards Zell to see.

"By sending Cyberdark Keel (800/800), Cyberdark Edge (800/800), and Cyberdark Horn (800/800) from my hand, field, or Graveyard back to my deck, I can then summon my almighty Cyberdark Dragon (1000/1000)!"

Instantly, the cloud dissipated, revealing three black machine creatures. The first was the strange insect like machine monster from earlier. Beside of it, another strange looking creature with long metallic wings that head sharp blade feathers. The metallic creature looked like a large bug with a long tail that had a pincher type tail, pinchers on its mouth, and two stick like arms. The wings on the creature were massive, even larger than its main body. The final one was a black metallic snake like dragon with wires hanging off of its body.

Once fully on the field, the three began swirling together, causing a bright blinding light to fill the air. From the light came a creature that was a combination of the metallic looking bugs and machine snake like creature. It had a massive wingspan filled with sharp metal wings, a long metallic tail, and the head of the creature was a strange combination of the three creatures' mouths. The roar that left its mouth shattered the silence of the dark forest.

Staring at the dragon, Zane smirked triumphantly, but cringed when he felt a small jolt of pain run through his body. Pushing the pain away, he said "Now then, you're familiar with my dragon's effects. Thanks to it, I can equip a Dragon Type monster to it, allowing my fusion monster to gain that monster's attack points. The dragon I choose is Felgrand Dragon (2800/2800) (1000 + 2800 3800/1000)!"

Rising up onto the field slowly was a golden dragon, which spread it's wings out fully and let out a loud roar. Wires instantly sprang from large black combination creature, attaching to the golden dragon and reeling it back to it's body. Firmly pulled up against the black creature's body, the dragon tried to free itself, but eventually succumbed to it's captor's hold.

"And now, Cyberdark Dragon's final special ability kicks in, granting it an additional 100 attack points per a monster in my Graveyard. Right now, I have a grand total of thirteen monsters in it, giving my dragon 1300 bonus attack points (3800 + 13 100 5100/1000)!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black machine creature's body began glowing with a black aura while it's power increased.

"There is no way you'll win now." Zane coldly declared. "You foolishly stole my brother from me, and now you'll pay for it. Cyberdark Dragon, blast his pathetic Zure with Darkness Strident Blaze!"


	30. Chapter 30: Past Foes, Pt 2

**Hey gang! Well, not too much going on this past weekend. I saw my sister and her boyfriend up at my grandparents, which was a good time and all. Grandpa is doing alright, although he wants to eat pancakes all the time, hehe. I can't blame him too badly though, for he likes sweet stuff I believe, but at the same time they're not the healthiest thing for him to eat either. Oh well, he's doing well. Other than that, things have been about normal here, other than my dad, step mom, and step brother went on vacation, which is cool. I get to feed the dogs due to that, plus check up on the horses as well. Other than that, I'm good.**

**Writing wise, things are good. Really, I've been trying to spend time on this story, but I have a lot going on with **_**Another **_**at the same time, so it's hard. Eh, it'll work out, I hope.**

**Last time, Zane found Syrus at long last, but his little brother quickly revealed that he has been possessed by the mad man Zell, the very same spirit that possessed Zane the year before. Now Zane finds himself in a duel to free Syrus from Zell, but should he lose, he will lose his own body. Can Zane find the strength to beat Zell, or will he suffer a similar fate as Syrus has?**

**Moving along, it's review time!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Thanks about the chapter. Yes, there were several interesting comments made by Zane, lol. Zane's directional problems seem to remind me actually of a character in **_**Bleach**_**, Kenpachi Zaraki. He is an accomplished fighter and a tough opponent, but has absolutely no directional skills, nor does his lieutenant, lol. True, if Zane had fused Cyber End Dragon together with Power Bond, it would have beat Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. I didn't really catch that. And yes, the reason the Cyberdarks can equip level 4 and below is due that I kept the anime effect. There aren't many powerful level 3 or below dragons, so I just kept the anime's way of doing things, lol. Yes, he says a lot of shut ups to try and keep Zell's words out of his head. It would be difficult I believe to face the person he cared the most about in a duel, especially when he wished to save that person. Thanks for the comments and corrections, and especially for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you for the single one. At any rate, I need to run along. Take care all, and enjoy!**

**Chapter 30**

Roaring loudly, the powerful combo creature began draining energy from the golden dragon, making it squeal in pain. Opening its jaws, the combo creature released a stream of black energy straight at the silver skinned demon knight. The silver skinned demon knight stood it's ground and raised it's sword in defense, but the blast tore straight through it, incinerating it within seconds. Pushing past the remains of the creature, the remnants of the blast struck Zell head on, making him scream out in pain and fall to his knees.

Seeing his brother's body fall to it's knees, Zane took an involuntary step forward while concern flashed across his face. He suddenly stopped though when Zell glanced back up at him with evil flashing in his eyes. Realizing Zell had been playing with his emotions once more, he growled lowly and clenched his right fist.

Sneering, Zell mockingly said while standing back up "Come now, Zane, that wasn't nice. Why would you hurt your own dear brother like that? The same little brother who loved and worshiped you, and was a single spark of light in your void and dark life of loneliness."

Zane's eyes hardened while he snapped out "SHUT UP!"

Looking at his little brother's body, Zane couldn't help but see the same innocent, funny teenager that had become very important in his life. "_I never told Syrus how important he truly was to me. I didn't even show him how much I cared about him. Still, I will save him, no matter the cost! All I see in his eyes now is hatred. I will break him free, no matter what it costs me!_"

"Don't be rude, Zane." Zell smugly replied. "Don't lose your cool, or I might pick up those bad habits from you, dear brother."

Clenching his eyes shut, Zane blocked out the sound of Zell's voice. Hearing the hurtful words coming out of Syrus's mouth was almost more than he could bear. "_I just have to block it out, no matter what, and end this duel. Zell will only continue to play psychoanalyst, but I must not listen!_"

Opening his eyes once more, Zane dejectedly said "I end my turn." (Zell 8200, Zane 1800)

"You mustn't blame yourself for your mistakes, Zane." Zell smartly remarked while picking up a new card. "Or actually, maybe you should, considering it was your fault that your brother is now under my control."

Earning himself a glare from Zane, Zell smirked when Zane said nothing. "It was your useless deck that forced me to lose to the pharaoh's whore last year. If you had actually had a decent deck strategy, I would have crushed her in that duel, and I could have continued to possess your body, rather than have to take your brother's. After all, you remember the pain you went through when I took over your body, don't you?"

Receiving a silent reply, Zell smugly said "Your brother went through far more pain than you did, I can assure you of that. It was truly exquisite to hear him howl with agony and the incomparable horror of it all as I entered his mind and began locking him away. The darkness wrapped around him like tendrils of death, but the foolish child actually tried to challenge me into leaving his mind. The idiot now suffers deep within the recesses of this mental void he calls a mind for his insubordination. You could stop his suffering Zane, if you're willing."

Trying to block out the sound of Zell's voice, Zane heard him say "Surrender now, and I will release this body from my power, and take yours. Your foolish, noble idealism would prefer that, wouldn't it? Your brother will be free to go, and I will have your much stronger body. Honestly, it won't be so bad. Being in this brat's body is like eating chocolate fudge without the sweet taste. I'll just wipe out your consciousness the moment I enter so you won't even have to endure the pain."

Looking at his hands, Zane shut his eyes and tried to block out the words that Zell had just told him. In the back of his mind, he heard a small voice say "_Accept it. It'll work out better for Syrus. What kind of life have you had the past few years? You dueled in the Pro League for a short time and found out it was a brutal world._"

"Leave that pathetic façade that you call a life, Zane. You are loved by no one, even Illidan and Marie blame you for taking all those student's souls when I had control of you last year. You have nothing to live for. Just surrender, and you will be freed from your painful life." Zell calmly said.

Clenching his fists tightly till his knuckles turned white and hiding his eyes below his bangs, Zane heard Zell add "What's it going to be, Zane? Would you prefer the brat to endure more suffering, or will you do the noble thing and free him?"

Looking up slowly, Zane revealed a pair of hardened eyes and said in a cold voice that sent a shiver down Zell's spine "You really piss me off, you know that!?"

Not giving Zell a chance to reply, Zane added "The fact that you even began to suggest that I should surrender makes you a true fool. That you went ahead and encouraged me to do it makes you an even bigger idiot than I thought you originally were. To tell you the truth, I don't like idiots, especially ones like you who hide behind an innocent soul!"

Seeing a frown appear on Zell's brow, Zane hissed out "Now make your damn move. I am going to free my brother and destroy you forever, no matter what it takes! And I won't lose my body in the process either."

Glowering, Zell darkly said "Fool, if you wish to take the hard way out, then I won't stop you! Just know that you will not be forgiven for your idiocy. Now, I switch Goldd into defense and end my turn. Oh, and by the way, Solemn Wishes grants me another 500 life points." (Zell 8700, Zane 1800)

Smirking while drawing a card, Zane smartly asked "You're running out of tactics, aren't you? Soon, nothing will stand between you and Cyberdark Dragon. Speaking of which, strike down his Goldd with Darkness Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly once more, the machine dragon released a stream of dark black energy straight at the golden armored fiend creature. The blast easily tore through it, leaving nothing behind but smoke which soon cleared away.

"I end my move by setting a card." (Zell 8700, Zane 1800)

Drawing slowly, Zell glanced at the card while his life points increased once more thanks to his trap. Sneering, he slapped the card onto his Duel Disk, saying "Your pathetic dragon is no match for this, my second Brron, Mad King of Dark World (1800/400)!"

An insane cackling echoed throughout the area once more as a new tall, gangly form materialized with his green cape flapping in the breeze.

"Next, I play the mighty spell card known as Riryoku!"

Without warning, the machine dragon let out a loud growl while it's body glowed with a red aura. Suddenly, the laughing gray skinned creature smirked as his body was covered in a green glow.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Zane demanded.

Sneering, Zell replied "Very simple, really. Riryoku slashes your monster's attack points in half (5100 / 2 2550/1000), and adds the same value to my monster's attack points (1800 + 2550 4350/400)! And when he destroys your dragon, you'll lose the duel."

Pointing at the green caped creature, Zell declared "Now, I want you to end this pathetic fool's life by sending him to the Shadows, Brron! Dark King's Slash!"

The insane monarch shrieked loudly as his clawed hands glowed with a bright piercing green aura. With another loud cackle, the creature flung itself across the field towards the black machine dragon.

Smirking, Zane pointed at his face down card, which rose up to reveal it was a spell card, making Zell grimace and swear under his breath.

"I activate Shrink, cutting your monster's attack points in half (2175/400)!" Zane called out.

Without warning, the gray skinned creature's body glowed with a red aura, causing it's strength to falter. Slamming it's clawed hand into the machine dragon, the monarch gasped in surprise when it bounced off of it, forcing it to leap backwards. Without warning, the black machine dragon opened it's jaws while the golden dragon squealed out in pain while it's strength was drained and the black dragon absorbed it. A stream of black energy instantly fired from the black dragon's mouth, slamming hard into gray skinned fiend, who let out a loud scream of agony before shattering at long last while the remainder of the beam continued onwards and slammed into Zell. Letting out a scream of pain, Zell fell to one knee while growling in frustration.

Glaring at Zell with cold and ruthless eyes, Zane firmly said "You will pay for what you have done, Zell."

Standing back up, Zell smirked at him and replied "But what if it entails hurting your beloved little brother. Are you willing to do that!? To satisfy your own pathetic grudge by hurting this innocent child!? The very ray of sunlight in your dark, dank life."

Pausing for a moment, he sneered and said "Oh, I know more than you thought I did Zane. When I was in your body, I had access to every one of your secrets."

"Make your move!" Zane angrily spat.

Shrugging, Zell placed two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots, saying "Very well, I set two cards face down and end my turn." (Zell 8325, Zane 1800)

Grabbing a new card furiously, Zane called out "I play Pot of Avarice! This spell allows me to return five monsters in my Graveyard back to my deck in order to draw two new cards. I'll send my three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) (x3), Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800), and Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100) back to my deck."

One by one, the five cards slid out of his Graveyard Slot and into his awaiting hand. Picking them up and placing them in their correct decks, Zane shuffled his deck and picked up two new cards while his black machine dragon let out a small growl while it's body glowed with a light red aura (5100 – 500 4600/1000).

Sneering, Zell smugly said "Don't forget, thanks to Appropriate, I draw two new cards, plus gain 500 life points thanks to Solemn Wishes."

"Whatever." Zane shrugged. Without hesitation, he called out "You're wide open now and nothing is going to save you from my Cyberdark Dragon. Attack him directly with Darkness Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the powerful combo creature began draining energy from the golden dragon, making it squeal in pain. Opening its jaws, the black machine dragon released a stream of black energy straight at the Syrus's body, who gave a mock squeal.

"Really Zane, do you think I'd leave myself unprotected!? I activate the trap Enchanted Javelin, which will increase my life points by your monster's attack points." Zell declared.

In a snarl, Zane asked "What will that achieve!? It results in no gain or loss!"

"Really?" Zell mockingly asked. "What if I follow it up with the trap Waboku?"

Before the dragon could hit Syrus's small body with it's black stream of energy, a light blue barrier formed in front of Syrus. A javelin suddenly appeared before the barrier, which took the brunt of the blast. At long last, the attack subsided while the javelin sent a stream of golden energy straight to Syrus's Duel Disk.

"Honestly, Zane, you cannot hope to stand up to my superior strategy. Your powerful monsters are nothing to me." Zell smugly remarked.

Gnashing his teeth, Zane clenched his fists tightly till his nails dug into his palms. In a loud snarl, he yelled "Just shut up! I end my turn!" (Zell 13425, Zane 1800)

Picking up a card slowly, Zell placed it into his hand and picked another. Slapping it onto his Duel Disk horizontally, he said "I set this monster and gain 500 life points thanks to Solemn Wishes. At that, I end." (Zell 13925, Zane 1800)

Drawing a card slowly, Zane glanced at it and softly smirked. "I activate the spell Dimensionhole, forcing me to remove from play one monster on my field till my next Standby Phase. I send Cyberdark Dragon away for this turn."

Letting out a small roar, the black machine dragon slowly faded away, leaving Zane alone on his field. "Next, I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was the silver machine snake like dragon from earlier in the duel. It let out a small roar while glaring seemingly at the face down card image.

"Cyber Dragon, attack his monster with Strident Blaze!"

Opening it's jaws, the machine dragon spat a beam of light blue energy straight for the weaker face down card image. The image shattered upon impact, revealing a yellow mask made of a rather hard material with two small holes for eyes with a cross scar on one side. The beam easily shredded through the mask, leaving nothing behind.

"When Mask of Darkness (900/400) is flipped, I get to add a trap from my Graveyard to my hand." Zell smugly remarked while holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot. Picking up a card, he smartly said "By all means, do continue."

Growling lowly, Zane firmly said "I set a card and end my move." (Zell 13925, Zane 1800)

"Don't you see, Zane?" Zell crowed. "It's impossible for you to win! I can avoid you forever, and strike at your pathetic little heart whenever I want. Do you really want to be two rivals locked in this foolish game forever!? You can't win!"

"I will defeat you eventually, Zell!" Zane snarled.

Picking up a card, Zell shrugged and grunted out "Suit yourself. I set a monster and a face down card. That's it." (Zell 14425, Zane 1800)

Drawing, Zane glanced at his card when suddenly appearing onto the field was the glowing form of the black machine dragon reappearing. "With Cyberdark Dragon's return, I reequip Felgrand Dragon (2800/2800) to it (1000 + 2800 3800/1000)."

Emerging onto the field before the black machine dragon once more was the golden dragon. Reaching out, the machine dragon ensnared the golden dragon within several wires and pulled it back to it's body. The golden dragon howled out in pain while it's energy slowly drained away till finally it lost consciousness.

"And next, my dragon regains points for each monster in my Graveyard. That means it gains another 800 attack points (3800 + 800 4600/1000)."

Glaring at Zell, Zane added with determination in his voice "It doesn't matter how many life points you have, I'll crush all of your monsters and push you out of my brother's body! With Cyberdark Dragon back on the field, it'll take less than five attacks to crush you. Cyber Dragon, destroy the facedown!"

The mechanical dragon growled softly and raised it's head. Taking aim, the dragon fired a stream of light blue energy straight at the face down card image. The blast struck the card image, revealing a brown and white flying squirrel, which let out a weak squeak upon shattering.

Sneering, Zell smugly said "You destroyed Nimble Momonga (1000/100). Thanks to that, I can now special summon two more copies from my deck to the field in face down defense mode. Plus, I gain a 1000 life points."

Clenching his fist while two new card images appeared onto the field, Zane pointed at one of the face downs and called out "Cyberdark Dragon, crush one of those creatures!"

Roaring loudly, the black machine dragon fired a stream of black energy straight at one of the face down card images. Before it could impact, a golden barrier materialized before the card, seemingly taking the hit. Once the blast subsided, the barrier formed a golden stream and flowed back to Zell's Duel Disk.

"Good thing I brought my Draining Shield back last turn. It negated your attack and added your dragon's attack points to my life points." Zell smugly remarked.

Letting out a growl, Zane muttered "I end my turn." (Zell 20025, Zane 1800)

With a deliberately calm motion, Zell drew a card and smirked. "I activate the spell Double Spell, allowing me to discard one card from my hand in order to activate one of your own from your Graveyard. I toss this out and activate your Pot of Avarice, allowing me to send these five cards back to my deck: Nimble Momonga (1000/100), Zure, Knight of Dark World (1800/1500), two copies of Brron, Mad King of Dark World (1800/400), and Gren, Tactician of Dark World (300/500)."

One by one, the five cards slid out of Zell's Graveyard Slot and into his hand. Taking each of the five, he placed them back on top of his deck and shuffled it. Replacing his deck, he drew two new cards.

Eyeing the two cards, Zell finally said "I end my move at that, seeing how you're in an impossible situation and all." (Zell 21025, Zane 1800)

Picking up a new card, Zane glanced at it. Placing it into his left hand, he pointed at the face down card images and said "Both my monsters will attack!"

Both dragons let out a loud roar. The silver metal dragon fired a beam of light blue energy first, while the black machine dragon released a stream of black energy. Both blasts scored a hit on the two face down card images, which shattered instantly and revealed two brown and white flying squirrels.

Darkly chuckling, Zell smugly said "Since you destroyed my Nimble Momongas (1000/100), I trigger the first's special ability, allowing me to special summon another Nimble Momonga (1000/100) in face down defense. Plus, I gain 1000 life points for each one that was destroyed."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a face down card image before Zell. Grunting at this, Zane growled out "I end my move." (Zell 23025, Zane 1800)

Grabbing a new card calmly, Zell sneered. "_Ah, the fool does not know what I'm setting up. Just a couple of more turns, and I will draw the right card. Then I will truly crush him with all my might._"

"You do not seem to understand why I'm dominating you the way I am, do you Zane?" Zell smugly remarked. Getting no response, Zell added "It's because of one simple thing: purpose. I am fighting for something far beyond what you could ever understand. Your pitiful hatred of me will achieve nothing, not when I am dueling to achieve power beyond your wildest dreams. In fact, you don't even understand the situation in this dimension, do you?"

"All I understand is that I'm going to defeat you!" Zane snapped loudly in response.

Ignoring Zane's response, Zell smartly said "You see, I am allied with a rather powerful individual known as Yubel. It's a partnership that has yielded profits on both sides, and has ensured that sooner rather than later, the both of us will achieve our goals. My ally's aim is rather more sadistic than mine, but it was enough for her to temporarily join forces with an organization that has set up base in this Dark World known as the Fallen Angels. Does the name ring a bell?"

"Never heard of it." Zane grunted out irritably.

Sneering, Zell replied "It's a group of individuals who are rather powerful as normal standards go, but weak compared to me. Their leader, Lucifer, is quite strong though. I'm sure that he would have even been able to give Legato a run for his money. But I don't even want to talk about that fool; that brat from Duel Academy dealt with him, and I'm glad for that. Anyway, my ally and myself temporarily did their bidding to lure Illidan and his group of friends into Dark World. After that, we disconnected ourselves from them in order to let this power struggle play out."

With a broad grin, he added "Yes, the battle between Illidan and Lucifer will be one to not forget. When the clash is over, few, if any, from either side will be left. That is when Yubel and I will strike, eliminating all that survive. It matters not that the Fallen Angels know of our betrayal. Yubel can take care of herself, and I will crush any fool who will come after me. Once we have crushed the remaining fools, I will take the throne of the Dark World and achieve the power I have been awaiting for five millennia."

"And I suppose you will share power with Yubel?" Zane sarcastically asked.

Sneering, Zell replied "Really Zane, do you believe that it would be safe to allow such an ambitious and powerful demon to live? I couldn't risk having her lurking around behind my back. I don't know if she would ever stab me in the back to begin with. No, after I achieve my supreme power, Yubel will have an accident… Perhaps several accidents…"

Zane frowned at this while Zell continued. "Of course, none of this is going to affect you, since you'll be my new body and your soul will be gone. Anyway, I'll set one more card in defense and end my turn." (Zell 23525, Zane 1800)

Picking up a new card, Zane allowed Zell's words to process in his mind. "_If what he says is true, Zell is just biding his time till this Lucifer is taken out. That must mean Zell kidnapped Arya for Lucifer in order to get Illidan angry and to come here. If that's the case, then Illidan is in great danger. Once I finish this battle off, I'll let him know what happened._"

Returning his attention to the duel, Zane called out "Cyber Dragon, take out the monster on the left with Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon opened it's jaws and fired a stream of light blue energy. The blast slammed into the face down card image, causing it to instantly shatter and reveal a brown and white flying squirrel, which let out a small squeal of pain before shattering itself.

"Thanks for the life points." Zell smugly remarked while his life point counter climbed.

Growling lightly, Zane fired back "No matter, I'll crush your other monster now with Cyberdark Dragon! Go Dark Strident Blaze!"

Releasing a mighty machine roar, the black machine dragon opened it's jaws quickly and released a stream of pure black energy. The stream slammed hard into the face down card image, shattering it immediately but revealing a purple sphere like blob of living matter. The blob instantly exploded upon being struck, but a piece of it flew across the field and landed on Zane's left arm. Without warning, the material began shocking him, making him scream out in pain from the effect of the blob.

Sneering at the slightly trembling form of Zane, Zell smugly said "Thank you for destroying my Giant Germ (1000/100). When destroyed, it inflicts 500 points of damage to my opponent. Next, I get to special summon up to two copies of Giant Germ (1000/100) to my field."

Pulling his deck out, Zell searched through it and finally found the two cards he wanted and slapped each to his Duel Disk. Instantly, two blobs of purple living matter formed onto the field.

Growling with a bit of frustration, Zane angrily spat out "I'll end my turn." (Zell 24525, Zane 1300)

Grabbing a new card, Zell examined it and sneered. "_Yes, that's just the card I needed. I just need one more card and then I can prove to him that he never stood a chance against me._"

Shifting the two monster cards on his Duel Disk into horizontal positions, Zell calmly said "I switch my two Giant Germs to defense mode and then toss out one card from my hand due that I have seven cards in my hand. At that, I end my turn." (Zell 25025, Zane 1300)

Drawing, Zane glanced at his card and shifted it into his left hand. Looking at the cards in his hand, he glanced back up at Zell's field and then back at his hand.

"_I only need one more card to complete my combo. Once I get it, I'll be able to deplete all of his life points. In the meantime, I'll have to crush his monsters, even though I'll lose some life points. It's just a gamble I'll have to take._"

Pointing at Zell's two monsters, Zane said "I'll have both Cyber Dragon and Cyberdark Dragon attack your two monsters. Crush them now with Strident Blaze and Dark Strident Blaze!"

The silver and black dragon each fired off a burst of power at the two identical giant bacteria creatures. They were literally ripped apart by the assault while splashing pieces of their bodies at Zane. Upon the goop landing on his body, Zane cried out in pain when electrical energy began coursing through him, causing him to fall to one knee while grasping his chest.

Weakly standing once more, Zane placed a card into one of his Spell/Trap Slots and said "I'll set this and end." (Zell 25025, Zane 300)

"My move." Zell declared while picking up a new card. Examining it, he smirked evilly at it and began laughing manically. "You're finished! It begins by me activating the spell known as Magical Stone Excavation! By discarding two cards from my hand, I can pick one spell card from the Graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose to add Double Spell back to my hand, while one of the cards I'm discarding is a spell card, but the other is a monster known as Celeri, Monk of the Dark World (300/300). When he is discarded like so, I can special summon him to your field!"

Gasping slightly in shock, Zane watched as suddenly a brown skinned fiend creature with large muscles, a green cape, and pincer like horns jutting out from his jaw line and three claws on his forehead, the creature let out a small indignant grunt while the black machine dragon and silver machine dragon let out warning growls.

Glancing at the strange monster, Zane grunted out "I place him in defense."

"No matter." Zell waved off. "Celeri's effect kicks in, forcing me to discard one card from my hand."

Grinning evilly, he held a card up and placed it into his Graveyard Slot. "I send one of my mightiest Dark World creatures, Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, who has a special ability of his own. When discarded like he just was, I get to special summon him to my field, so return now Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World (2500/1800)!"

Rising up onto the field was a black skinned creature with an extremely muscular body, two massive wings, slicked back horns, a well sculpted chest with four gems in it's chest, and a staff that had a golden glade on the top of it.

Staring at the creature, Zane shifted uneasily, but quickly growled lowly and decided to stand his ground.

"Reign-Beaux is the most powerful monster in my arsenal for a specific reason. When he's special summoned, I can blow away all of your monsters or all of your spell and trap cards. I choose your spell and trap cards."

Eyes widening, Zane watched when suddenly the large black creature whipped it's staff over it's head. Golden flames ignited on the blade while swinging it around. Without warning, the black demon creature slammed it into the ground, sending the golden flames flying at Zane's face down cards.

Pointing at his one face down card, Zane called out "I'm not out of this duel yet! I play the trap Call of the Haunted, allowing me to revive Cyber Valley (0/0)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a silver machine snake like dragon with spike like scale armor, with eight red half spheres on it's belly.

"Why bother summoning that weakling? It's about to go back to the Graveyard due to Reign-Beaux's effect." Zell pointed out.

Smirking, Zane replied "Not before I play my monster's special ability. By removing it from play, I can not only draw one card, but you cannot conduct your Battle Phase."

"WHAT!" Zell declared angrily while the large machine dragon vanished from the field slowly. Upon it being gone, Zane drew one extra card. Racing forward, the flames struck the remaining face down card and then into the golden dragon that was equipped to the black machine dragon, which lowly growled when it's power decreased.

Once again, Zane smirked and replied "You heard me. Of course, since my dragon lost it's equip card, it is weaker, but no matter (1000/1000). Now then, go ahead and finish up."

"Very well, if you wish to suffer on, then so be it!" Zell snapped while picking up two new cards. "Since you drew a card, Appropriate gave me the ability to draw twice, plus I gained 500 more life points due to Solemn Wishes. Next, I equip Reign-Beaux with a spell card known as Excalibur!"

The dark demon dropped his staff without warning when suddenly a shining new blade appeared in his hands. It gave off such a bright light, that it was quite ironic to see it in the hands of such a heathen demon.

"Excalibur doubles the power of the equipped monster as long as I skip my Draw Phase while this card is in play (2500 2 5000/1800). You see, there is no hope for you."

Giving a small smile, Zane asked "Is that all?"

Glaring at Zane, Zell muttered "I end my move. This is your final turn, Zane. You cannot hope to fight me now. Your body is mine!" (Zell 26025, Zane 300)


	31. Chapter 31: Power Struggle, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, this past week has been interesting. Last weekend, my mom came in from Richmond, VA, to visit my grandparents, which was cool. My sister and her boyfriend came down there too, and I went up. We all had a good time. Hmm, other than that, I'm exhausted this morning. Currently, I'm on a business trip to the home office. I came up yesterday and leave today, but I never sleep well when we are in a certain motel, and last night was no exception. I probably got at most an hour or two of sleep. I just feel worn out, which totally sucks since I drove up with my coworker, and he doesn't know how to drive stick… (/sighs\) I'll just have to wire myself up with energy drinks and see how that works. Other than that, I'm looking forward to going to the beach here in another week or so. I can't wait to be off and just do whatever I feel like for the week with my mate. Ah, good times ahead…**

**Writing wise, things are still moving, so don't worry too much about it. I've been sitting and thinking a lot on this story, so things are coming to me, and ardee is hard at work on it as well, so no worries really on this story. It'll be finished, trust me.**

**Last time, Zane and Zell's battle raged on, with Zell's life points going over 26000, plus he summoned a monster with 5000 attack points. Can Zane triumph over the madman that put him through hell, or will he fall victim once more to him and lose his body once more?**

**Alright, time for reviews!**

**Aelsthla-Mental: Heh, I'm not sure where ardee actually got that. If I had to guess, possibly from Artemis Fowl. True, things aren't looking good, but Zane's a fighter. He'll find a way, or go down fighting, lol.**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Zell managed to save himself during **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**. Heh, I wasn't sure if anyone would figure that out or not. True, he seems to have not lost that evil touch of his since he commandeered Syrus's body. Yep, with Zell out and about, there is another power vying for power in Dark World. Heh, glad you liked this chapter. Ardee did the actual duel, so I give him credit. Never know what Zell may have up his sleeves. Time will tell. Thanks for the review!**

**KisunaFuji: Thanks about the chapter. Heh, I'll try to update as soon as possible, but currently I can only do it once a week. Yeah, I'm sure many people are pulling for Zane to win so he can truly express how he feels for Syrus, but that's if he wins. True, 26000 life points is one tough obstacle to overcome. If there is anyone who can do it though, it's Zane, the king of major life point damage, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for this session. Man, I feel so sleepy. My eyes just hurt, lol. Stupid no sleeping while in odd motel… Anyways, thanks to everyone for their reviews. I enjoyed all of them. Take care all, and till next time, enjoy!**

**Chapter 31**

Drawing deliberately slowly, Zane glanced at his new card and smirked. "What you said is true Zell. You see, I have the ability to end this duel permanently and free my little brother."

"You can't hope to defeat a monster with 5000 attack points and then reduce my score by 26000 life points to zero in one turn. It is impossible." Zell scoffed.

With blazing eyes, Zane declared "I wouldn't count on it! I begin by activating the spell called Spell Economics. With this spell, I pay no life points for any spell cards that have me pay life points. Next, I play my second Cyber Valley (0/0)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a new silver machine snake like dragon with spike like scale armor, with eight red half spheres on it's belly.

"Is that all?" Zell scoffed. "Because if it is, you're wasting my time."

Shaking his head, Zane replied "Not quite. I activate this spell, Machine Duplication, which allows me to choose a Machine Type monster on my field with 500 or less attack points. Since Cyber Valley has zero, it's a shoe in. Next, I can special summon up to two more copies of this monster, so I special summon my final copy from my deck."

Rising onto the field next to the other silver machine snake with spike scaled armor was another silver machine snake.

"What is the point of your move!? Summoning those weaklings has done nothing to ensure your victory!" Zell angrily snarled.

Smirking, Zane simply replied "You'll see soon enough, that I can assure you of. Now then, I activate Cyber Valley's second special ability. By removing it from play along with another monster, I can draw two new cards. I'll send it and your Celeri away then and draw two new cards."

Picking up two cards while his machine dragon and fiend creature vanished, Zane slightly smirked. "Go ahead and pick up your two cards for Appropriate." Zane smartly said.

Glaring at Zane, Zell drew his cards. Once he had both, Zane continued on, saying "I next activate the spell Dimension Fusion, allowing me to pay 2000 life points in order for both of us to return all of our removed from play monsters that we can. Since I have Spell Economics in play, I pay nothing, plus I only can return two monsters, so I pick the two Cyber Valleys (0/0)."

Rematerializing onto the field instantly was the two silver machine dragons with spiked scale armor.

"And next, I activate my first Cyber Valley's third effect. By removing it from play along with a card from my hand, I can take a card in my Graveyard and place it on top of my deck. My choice is Dimension Fusion."

Watching Zane take the two cards and replace them into his removed from play slot, Zell irritably growled while Zane placed a card on top of his deck. At the same time, one of the silver machine dragons vanished once more from the field.

Smirking, Zane pointed a finger at his remaining two machine dragons and said "Now, I activate Cyber Valley's effect once more. Once more, I remove from play both of my Cyber Valleys, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Again, the two machine dragons vanished from the field while Zane drew two cards. At the same time, Zell did the same with a puzzled look. "Is there a point to these moves?" he growled out.

Smirking, Zane replied "There is. Watch as I activate Dimension Fusion once more, returning all three of my Cyber Valleys (0/0)!"

Rising up onto the field once more were all three of the silver machine snakes with spike like scales.

Eyes widening, Zell gasped softly while fear began creeping over his face. "That's impossible! It's an endless loop! You remove a Cyber Valley and a card from your hand from play to place Dimension Fusion on the top of your deck, and then you remove the other two to draw two more cards, one of which is Dimension Fusion! At the same time, I'm forced to draw two new cards! Then you can play it again, special summoning all three Cyber Valleys, and repeating the process. And thanks to Spell Economics, you pay no life points!"

"You catch on quickly." Zane smugly remarked while continuing his move.

Zell watched in despair as Zane repeated the process again and again. His life points continued to go up thanks to his trap due that he had to draw for his other trap. But it was quite useless, since it was Zane's turn. As Zane repeated the process for the tenth time, he stopped, and smirked at Zell, who was down to a handful of cards in his deck. At the same time, Zane only had two cards left in his deck.

"And now, I activate my last Cyber Valley's second effect, causing me to remove from play itself and Cyberdark Dragon!"

With a light roar, the silver machine dragon with spike like scales and the black machine dragon each vanished from the field while Zane drew two more cards.

Smirking great big, Zane turned a card towards Zell, saying "I activate the spell Power Bond, allowing me to fuse my Cyber Dragon on the field with the two in my hand (2100/1600) to create the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Materializing onto the field next to the lone machine dragon was a pair of silver machine dragons. The three swirled together in a blinding light, forcing Zell to look away. The light soon died down, revealing a large silver three headed machine dragon with a large set of wings on it's back and single tail. Each head let out a massive roar which shook the ground.

"Thanks to Power Bond, my dragon's points are doubled (4000 2 8000/2800), making it doubly hard for you to handle."

Gulping while watching the three headed machine dragon glow with a light blue aura, Zane stared at the machine dragon with wide eyes. "_I've not been on the receiving end of this dragon in a long time. Last time I saw it, I was controlling it and Marie used it's power against me._"

"I'm not done! I play my second Power Bond, allowing me to fuse together my two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) and form Cyber Twin Dragon (2800 2 5600/2000)!"

"Wait, you have no Cyber Dragons on the field!?" Zell declared in his own defense.

Smirking, Zane nodded and replied "True, which is why I activate the spell Cybernetic Fusion Support! By paying half my life points, I can fuse monsters from my Graveyard instead. Of course, I lose no points due to Spell Economics, so no matter. Now then, form together Cyber Twin Dragon!"

Rising back up onto the field instantly was two silver machine dragons. A blinding light formed on the field a moment later, which died down after a minute. On the field, next to the three headed machine dragon was a smaller twin headed machine dragon with no wings. With a loud roar, each head made its presence known.

"And if that wasn't enough of a problem for you, I activate Dimension Fusion, allowing me to return Cyberdark Dragon (1000/1000), and the two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) I removed from play. And since Cyberdark Dragon is back, I'll activate it's effect and equip it to Felgrand Dragon (2800/2800) (3800/1000), plus it gains a few more points (4700/1000)."

Rematerializing onto the field a moment later was the black machine dragon and two silver snake like machine dragons. Appearing before the black machine dragon a moment later was the golden dragon, which was instantly integrated into the machine dragon's body once more.

"And now, I activate the single card that will seal your fate. I play the spell Overload Fusion!"

Hearing Zane's words, Zell fell to his knees while trembling in fear. "No, you can't…" he weakly mumbled.

"I can and I will!" Zane declared loudly. "With Overload Fusion, I can remove from play Machine Type monsters in my Graveyard or on my field in order to special summon a Dark Attribute Machine Type monster. I choose to remove all three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800), Cyber Laser Dragon (2400/1800), Cyber Ouroboros (100/600), Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600), Cyberdark Horn (800/800), Cyberdark Edge (800/800), and Cyberdark Keel (800/800) in order to form my Chimeratech Overdragon (?/?)!"

Each and every one of the silhouettes of the monsters Zane had declared formed behind him. All at once, the ten vanished in a flash of light while a dark portal appeared above the field. Slowly descending from the portal a moment later was a large silver snake like machine dragon that had ten heads.

"Since I emptied out most of my Graveyard, Cyberdark Dragon loses all it's extra strength (3800/1000). And as you know, this new dragon gains 800 attack and defense points for every Fusion Material monster that composed him. Since I used ten monsters, that's 8000 points (800 10 8000/8000). And for each monster I used to summon this creature, it can attack that many times." said Zane in an even tone.

Weakly, in a whimpering tone, Zell said "Zane, reconsider your decision. Do you wish to hurt your own brother's body?"

Turning to panic, Zell added "Draw the duel! Join me, and ultimate power shall be ours!"

Ignoring Zell's pleas, Zane turned one last card towards Zell, saying "I activate my final spell, Limiter Removal. This doubles every single one of my Machine Type monsters attack points till the end of the turn (8000 2 16000/2800) (5600 2 11200/2000) (3800 2 7200/1000) (8000 2 16000/8000)."

Watching each of the four monsters roar loudly while their strength increased, Zane glanced from dragon to dragon and sadly smiled. "My four most powerful monsters…" he mumbled lowly.

Throwing a heated glare at Zell, who was lost in his fear, Zane said "When you used my body, you abused the power of each and every one of my dragons, but still you didn't bring out their full potential. I did so just now to their fullest, proving that you were truly indeed a worthless coward. The potential damage I can do with these monsters exceeds 200000 points. How you could ever think to match that!?"

"DON'T DO THIS ZANE!" Zell cried out in desperation while his eyes were filled to the core with terror.

"No, I will end this. You took control of myself and disrespected my monsters, and to top it off, harmed the students at Duel Academy. And then you took it a step farther in harming my little brother, and attempted to force Marie into your control. Worst of all, you took control of my little brother, thinking I wouldn't harm him due to you."

Glaring at Zell with eyes full of hatred, Zane declared "I WILL FREE MY BROTHER! CYBERDARK DRAGON, CRUSH HIS MONSTER WITH DARK STRIDENT BLAZE!"

Letting out a mighty roar, the black machine dragon released a stream of black energy straight at the towering black demon. With ease, the blast tore through the creature, shattering it instantly while the remainder of the blow struck Zell, causing him to scream out in pain.

Weakly looking up at Zane, Zell said "Think of your brother Zane! You'll kill him with that much firepower!"

"I will save my brother once your spirit is pushed out of his body." Zane firmly stated. "I won't allow you to control him no longer! Now die! Crush him Cyber End Dragon, Cyber Twin Dragon, and Chimeratech Overdragon with Super Strident Blaze, Double Strident Blaze, and Overload Burst!"

With each set of dragon heads letting out a loud roar, the three headed dragon released a stream of light blue energy from each of it's mouths, which combined into a single stream of power. The twin headed dragon did the same, with each head releasing a stream of glowing golden energy. Bringing up the rear, the ten heads of the behemoth of a machine dragon took aim and released a single stream of black energy.

The four sets of streams slammed hard into Zell, causing a tremendous explosion to cover the area. The force of the explosion sent trees toppling over, along with dirt and sand to fill the air. Slowly, the sound of life points running out filled the dust and smoke filled air. At long last, the sound of a duel ending hit the air.

Walking into the dust and debris, Zane cautiously picked his way across the destroyed battlefield till he found Syrus laying on the ground face down. Gently, he rolled his brother over onto his back and checked his vitals. Finding they were faint, he let out a sigh of relief.

Feeling tears falling down his face, Zane mumbled "Syrus, I'm so sorry for not being there to protect you. I swear, I will never fail you again little brother."

Without warning, Zane felt his heart suddenly tighten while pain streaked through his body, causing him to grip his chest. Taking raspy breaths, he felt his body tremble as more pain racked his body, causing him to fall over onto his side next to Syrus.

Panting heavily, he clenched his eyes shut tightly and tried to push the pain away. "_Ah, I didn't think the pain would hit me after just one duel! Damn, it's almost too much for me to bear! I used way too much Duel Energy in this game._"

Feeling the pain slightly easing off, he cracked his eyes open and gingerly sat up. Taking a glance at his younger brother, Zane decided to move the pair further into the forest. With all his will, he stood back up and picked his brother up as well. Pain ran through his body, but he pushed it away and began walking into the forest with his brother on his back.

Finding a secluded area near the edge of the forest, Zane sat Syrus down onto the ground and pulled out his medical supplies from his backpack. Treating all of the minor wounds the best he could, Zane let out a small sigh upon finishing up.

Looking down at his brother's peaceful face, he sadly smiled at him and reached out to his brother and gently ruffled his hair. Feeling his brother's hair for the first time in months instantly drew tears into the battle hardened duelist.

"Sy, I'm so sorry. I should never have let him take you. I should have known that Zell wasn't gone, that he had moved on and into your body. For failing you brother, I'm truly sorry."

Laying down next to his brother, he let his tears continue to roll down his face. For the first time in months, he closed his eyes, allowing sleep to take over his body and consume him fully.

--

Waking to the sound of dark laughter, Zane groggily sat up and glanced around the area he had selected to rest in. Finding Syrus was still next to him, he weakly stood up slowly and moved away from his brother.

Moving to the edge of the forest to look out into the vast wasteland, he saw a dark figure with dark blue-green spike like hair wearing a dark purple vest that was open with a black muscle shirt revealed underneath the vest, with a dark purple battle skirt and black pants. Around his waist was a set of round white containers with a handle sticking out of each. Dark purple armbands were around muscular biceps, with a black wrist band on his wrist. On the figure's left arm was a red Duel Disk with a blue screen for life points, and series of three blades folded up together.

Revealing his eyes from below his bangs, the figure was seen to have orange colored eyes and was evilly grinning.

Lightly gasping, Zane mumbled "Jesse, is that you?"

"Not quite Zane." a feminine voice spoke up while Jesse's body glowed with a purple aura.

Hardening his gaze, Zane clenched his jaw and growled out "It's you, isn't it Yubel!?"

"Wow, I'd have guessed you'd keep pondering who it was, but you're as sharp as ever I see." Yubel smugly remarked. With the purple aura fading away, Jesse's normal voice but darker than normal and without his southern drawl, asked "So Zane, enjoying your stay thus far in Dark World?"

Not receiving an answer, Jesse's orange eyes glanced past Zane towards the still sleeping form of Syrus. Sneering while the purple aura covered Jesse once more, Yubel's voice smugly said "I see you took care of my future problem maker. I must thank you for that. Zell was a decent partner, but he had such short sighted goals of simply ruling this dimension."

"And what is your goals then!?" Zane ground out.

Smirking, Yubel's voice replied "They are simple really. A new day dawns. Before long, the fabric of all things will be undone, then rewoven so all dimensions become one. Once that is complete, I will have a place where I can keep Jaden locked away for all of eternity!"

"What does this have to do with Jaden!?" Zane demanded.

Darkly chuckling, Yubel coolly said "It has everything to do with him. He is the reason for all of this, for my goals, and for what I do everything for."

"I don't think Jaden would want you doing this, Yubel." Zane sharply remarked. "In fact, I'm pretty sure he would be most angry with you for harming Jesse and possessing his body."

"Perhaps, but that doesn't matter." Yubel flatly stated. "I will have the twelve dimensions become one, no matter what."

"How boring." a voice declared, making both Zane and Jesse look around. Both soon saw the owner to the voice walking out of the deep forest and moving before the pair.

Glaring at the figure, Zane asked "Why are you here Darren? You should be back at Duel Academy still."

"Should have, could have, would have, but I had other plans." Darren smugly remarked with a sneer. "When I saw the power that Kevin wielded, I decided then that I wanted that power for myself. I'm here to take whatever power I can and make it my own. Besides, I have a score to settle with both of you."

Glancing from Darren to Jesse and back to Darren, Zane harshly said "Get out of here Darren! You don't know what you're getting into!"

"Can it Zane. I know what I'm doing. I'm going to take the power that Jesse has away, along with whatever power you have, and grow stronger. And eventually, I'll rule not only this world, but any other one I want!" Darren declared.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse let out bellowing maniacal laughter. Pointing at Darren, Jesse smartly said "Is that so? Well then, I guess we have a three way battle here."

"Darren, leave now and leave Jesse to me." Zane growled out.

Shaking his head while moving out from the pair, Darren smugly shot back "I will crush both of you, and take what power each of you has."

"I have no problem sending either of you to the Shadows. Let's begin this little duel." Jesse declared with a smirk.

Growling lightly, Zane glanced back at his younger brother, but grudgingly moved into position so that the three were in a triangle shaped set of positions. Shuffling their decks and then placing them into their Duel Disks, the three's Duel Disks came to life, with each activating, but Jesse's Duel Disk slid out three blades with zones on each. Drawing their first five cards, the three solemnly declared "Duel!"

"I'll begin this little duel." Darren declared while drawing his sixth card. Placing a card into his Spell/Trap Slot, he smartly said "I start by playing the spell Fiend's Sanctuary, allowing me to special summon a Metal Fiend Token (0/0)!"

Materializing onto the field before Darren was a small silver creature made up of several round metal sections. It had pointed hands and a pointed tail, and a simple round head.

"Next I set a face down card, then sacrifice my token for Granmarg the Rock Monarch (2400/1000)!"

The small metal creature instantly vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a towering brown fully armored warrior with a blue towel like wrap around it's waist, hulking oversized gloved hands, stubby like legs, large golden shoulder pads, and a ring like structure jutting out from it's back that surrounded it's front part. It's head was covered with a helmet, but seemed to not obscure it's vision.

"When Granmarg is summoned, I get to destroy one face down card on the field, so I'll crush my own."

Raising a large brown metal fist, the large warrior slammed it heavily into the face down card image, shattering it instantly, but not before revealing what it was.

Sneering, Darren smugly said "I just crushed my trap, Kozaky's Self-Destruct Button. It activates when it's destroyed, dealing the person who took it out 1000 life points of damage. Of course, I have no intentions of taking the damage, that's why I activate the spell card known as Spell of Pain! Now I can transfer the damage I was to take to someone else, so I pick you Zane!"

Immediately, Zane's body glowed with a light red aura, making him shutter a bit. The aura soon faded, but left him clutching his chest tightly.

"_No, I've not yet recovered the strength I lost in my duel with Zell. That means I may not make it through this duel._" Glancing over at Syrus, he returned his vision back to Darren and growled back in his mind "_I will protect my little brother, no matter what the cost!_"

Smirking at Zane's weakened form, Darren took one of his remaining cards in his hand and placed it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots and said "I place this face down and I'll let Jesse have a go at it." (Darren 8000, Jesse 8000, Zane 7000)

Drawing his card, Jesse calmly said "I begin by activating my field spell, Advanced Dark!"

Reaching down to the final blade on his Duel Disk, Jesse waited while a fourth blade shot out from the third. Placing the card into the blade, he darkly smirked as the blade shut back up into the third, causing his Duel Disk to glow to life. Appearing around Jesse's feet instantly was a glowing blue circle with strange symbols within it. Slowly, the circle enlarged and spread across the field, entrapping all three within it as blue energy rose up from the circle like flames.

"The effects of this field spell shall be revealed soon enough. In the meantime, I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)."

Materializing onto the field was a round amber colored stone with a dark aura surrounding it. A moment later, the aura flared to life and the stone shattered, revealing a large dark grey mammoth with white tusks, an amber round stone on it's forehead, and a white mane.

"To end, I place these two cards face down." (Darren 8000, Jesse 8000, Zane 7000)

Eyeing both Darren and Jesse's fields, Zane contemplated his move for a few moments. At last, he was ready and drew his next card. Examining it, he showed it to both his opponents and said "I activate the spell Card Destruction, meaning we all three must toss out our hands and draw new cards equal to the ones we tossed out."

Silently, each placed the remaining cards in their hands into their Graveyards. Darren picked up one, while Jesse picked up two, and Zane picked up five.

Looking over his new hand, Zane smirked and slapped a card to his Duel Disk, saying "I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"

Rising up onto the field was a silver machine snake like dragon, which let out a loud mechanical roar.

"No surprise there." Darren commented with a smug look.

Smirking himself, Zane replied "Then you won't mind when I summon something new, like this, my Cyberdark Keel (800/800)!"

Materializing beside of the machine dragon was a black colored machine snake like dragon with several wires hanging off of it's body. It's eyes were a red color, and it let out a small warning growl.

Without warning, a jolt of pain ran through Zane's body, making him wince. "_I have to hang on! No matter what, I have to keep going!_"

Regaining his composure, he called out "When Cyberdark Keel is summoned, I get to equip a Dragon Type monster to it from my Graveyard, so long as it's level four or below. My pick is this, Infernal Dragon (2000/0)!"

Appearing on the field before the black machine dragon was a black dragon with a skin hood and large black wings. The dragon let out a small roar before the wires on the black machine dragon reached out and sank into the black dragon. Struggling, the black dragon was dragged to the machine dragon, but soon settled as the machine dragon glowed with a black aura.

"Whenever I equip a Dragon to my Cyberdark Keel, it gains that dragon's attack points (800 + 2000 2800/800)."

Glaring at the powerful machine dragon, Darren smartly said "I see, you've changed your deck since last time."

"It must be rather painful though Zane." Jesse spoke up in a mixed voice with Yubel's. "After all, that Underworld Deck from what Zell told me drained it's controller of their Duel Energy. I'd have to guess that right now, you're exhausted from your battle with Zell, meaning that your deck is killing you to use."

Shooting a glare at Jesse, Zane smirked and said "I wouldn't worry about me. After all, once I'm done with you, Jesse will be free."

"Unlikely." Jesse remarked in a clipped tone.

"We'll see." Zane commented. "Before I end, I set a card face down and activate this spell, Different Dimension Capsule!"

Slowly appearing onto the field was a blue and yellow casket like structure. Pulling his deck out, Zane searched it for a moment and finally picked a card.

"Upon me playing this card, I'm allowed to search my deck and remove from play one card from it. In two of my Standby Phases, I'm allowed to add the card to my hand."

Replacing his deck after he shuffled, Zane placed the other card into his removed from play slot and said "I think that'll do it for me." (Darren 8000, Jesse 8000, Zane 7000)

Picking up a new card, Darren sneered and said "I kick things off this turn by playing my trap, Call of the Haunted! Thanks to this, I get to resurrect my Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/700)!"

A thin warrior dressed in gray armor and a blue cape coming down to his ankles instantly emerged onto the field. Reaching into his cape, he pulled out an axe and seemed ready for battle.

"Next, I sacrifice Inazu to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000)!"

Immediately, the grey armored warrior vanished from the field and was replaced by a towering new warrior in full body armor that was light blue, with a flowing blue cape and cold wisps of smoke coming off his body.

"When I summon Mobius, his special ability kicks in, allowing me to destroy two spell or trap cards on the field. My targets are your pathetic dragon equip and spell there Zane!"

Turning a palm towards Zane, the icy colored warrior shot a blast of arctic wind. The wind crashed against the black machine dragon, instantly freezing the black dragon in it's clutches, causing it to shatter. Moving on, the wind struck the strange capsule and froze it over, causing it to shatter a moment later.

Letting out a dark chuckle, Darren smugly said "Without your dragon, your pathetic creature gets weaker (2800 – 2000 800/800). And also, since I destroyed your capsule, that means you just lost an important card."

"Perhaps…" Zane smartly remarked.

Glaring at Zane, Darren glanced at Jesse and pointed at the weaker mammoth creature, saying "I would wipe Zane out, but I need to make sure you don't try anything, so go Granmarg, crush his mammoth!"

Stepping towards the mammoth creature, the brown armored warrior pulled back a heavy right fist and sent it flying towards the mammoth.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse pointed at his face down card and said "I think not, for I play a spell! Go Gem Flash! With this, I can send an Advanced Crystal Beast from my hand to my Spell/Trap Slot to reduce all the Battle Damage to zero. My choice is Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle (600/2000)."

Upon Jesse sliding the card from his hand into his Spell/Trap Slot, a green crystal formed on his field and shot out a green beam that coated the mammoth. A moment later, the large brown warrior's fist slammed heavily into the beam that covered the mammoth. After grinding against it for a moment, the warrior stepped back.

Casting a glare at Jesse, Darren growled out "No matter, I'll attack Zane's pathetic Cyberdark Keel with Mobius!"

Turning a palm towards the black machine dragon, the ice armored warrior shot a beam of arctic blue energy towards the machine dragon.

"Not quite Darren!" Zane called out. "I activate my trap, Attack Reflector Unit! Thanks to this, I can sacrifice Cyber Dragon to summon from my deck Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800)!"

Sifting through his deck, Zane selected the correct card finally. Slapping it to his Duel Disk, the silver machine dragon vanished, only to be replaced by another silver machine dragon, this one with a hood around it's face that had a pink stripe on it and four pointed antennas on it. Several spikes were jutting out from the dragon's body as well.

"Big deal, your other dragon is gone!" Darren yelled out.

Smirking, Zane smugly replied "Not really, because now I play Cyber Barrier Dragon's special ability. Once per a turn, I can negate an attack, so you're out of luck!"

Pulling it's head back into it's hood and extending it's antennas, the machine dragon with pink on it's hood began screeching as a green barrier formed in the area of the antennas. The icy wind blast struck the barrier and instantly fizzled out.

Growling lowly, Darren jammed a card into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I'll set this and end!" (Darren 8000, Jesse 8000, Zane 7000)

"Alright, my move." Jesse declared upon drawing. "I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1600/1000)!"

Forming on the field before Jesse was a yellow round stone. After a moment, it glowed black and exploded, revealing a white tiger with black stripes, black fur on all four of it's feet, a black blade on it's tail, and a white horn jutting out of it's forehead.

"And next, I activate a little spell known as M-Force! This raises one of my Advanced Crystal Beast's attack points by 500 for this turn alone, and I think I'll choose Topaz (1600 + 500 2100/1000)."

Growling softly, the white tiger's body glowed with a green glow as it's strength rose.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Darren questioned with a bored expression.

Smirking, Jesse replied "You will be in a moment. First though, I play my trap, Crystal Raigeki, which allows me to send a Crystal from my field to destroy one of your cards. I send Emerald Turtle to my Graveyard and destroy your pathetic Granmarg!"

"What!?" Darren roared out in anger.

Glowing with a bright black aura, the green crystal shot a beam of black and green mixed energy at the brown armored warrior, causing it to explode on impact and making Darren cover his face from the explosion.

"And now, Topaz attacks Mobius!"

"What a waste! If you wanted to lose, then you should have said so!" Darren yelled out angrily.

Smirking, Jesse smugly remarked "Oh yeah, one thing about Topaz I forgot to mention. When attacking on my turn, he gains 400 more attack points (2100 + 400 2500/1000). That means Mobius is going down."

"No!" Darren yelled in surprise.

Roaring loudly, the white tiger bound forward and slammed a heavy paw into the chest of the ice colored warrior, which howled in pain as the claws of the tiger dug into it, causing it to shatter into millions of pixels.

"And now that you're defenseless, Amber Mammoth gets to attack you too!" Jesse declared.

Racing forward, the mammoth creature slammed a heavy foot into Darren, making him fall to one knee and begin panting lightly.

"I think that's enough damage for now. I'll let Zane pummel you some more." (Darren 6200, Jesse 8000, Zane 7000)


	32. Chapter 32: Power Struggle, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! Well, this past week wasn't too bad. Saturday, I spent the day helping my dad brush hog (mow pretty much) his fields, which was semi-fun, other than I was driving one handed all day due that I had a bottle in my hand. I should have threw it off, but I didn't, lol. Anyway, Sunday, I went and saw my grandparents. My sister and her boyfriend happened to come up the same day, so it was all good. Poor grandpa, he was a little fussy about lunch. He wanted pancakes, which isn't abnormal because they're seemingly his favorite now, but my granny was trying to feed him chicken, dumplings, green beans, and mashed potatoes. He finally ate most of his dinner, and she fixed him a pancake later just for desert, which made him happy, lol. Him and my sister were funny, with my sister joking with him. She can always seemingly get him to smile, which I'm glad. Other than that, life has been semi quiet I suppose, with my mate and I preparing for our vacation next week. I can't wait for it. I could use some relaxation time, plus our anniversary (marriage) is Monday, so yay! We've gone 2 years now, so good times all around. Plus, we've been together 7 ½ years all together, so it's all going well. I'm so lucky to still be with her.**

**Writing wise, I'm trying to get some work done on this story, while at the same time work on **_**Another**_**. Ack, it's hard to split my time, lol.**

**Last time, Zane defeated Zell in a thunderous way and ended the spirit's journey towards control of Dark World. With Zell's defeat, Syrus was released, but the duel seemed to have taken it's toll on Zane, physically and mentally. Upon resting for a while, Zane found himself in a deadly new struggle between himself, the opportunistic Darren, and Jesse, who is controlled by Yubel. The question now is, who will win this three way duel? And more importantly, will anyone be left standing at the end?**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Raymond Barrett: Yep, he's gone to the dark side, lol. It had better pay and benefits, go figure. But yes, he gave into his rage and anger, forcing him to sacrifice all that he held within his heart to the darkness to overpower his opponent. Yeah, Zell's points increased drastically, but in the end, he got crushed and what he deserved. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yes, that is true about Chimeratech not being able to attack directly, but I figured the duel needed to end, so why not bend the rules, lol. True, the show messed that one up also in season 2, like many a things. That's a good question about whether Zane will make it or not. He may, but he's pretty tired already, plus his deck continues to tax him. We'll see what happens. Yep, I saw that the new episodes are out through 155, which makes no sense to why they didn't put 156 out… I mean, one more episode and the season would be over for crying out loud! But yes, the storyline was totally thrown to the wayside by 4Kids. They just ruined the story completely by removing Yubel's love stories and so on, but oh well. I didn't figure they would remain. Thanks for the review!**

**philosopher-kaiser: Ah, I didn't notice that in the card text. Good catch on that, and had I noticed, I may have done something different. Oh well, no use in complaining about it now I suppose. Thanks for telling me. True, the multi-attacking is meant for monsters alone, not direct attacks, so he'd have taken out Zell's monster and that was it, but it wasn't enough damage, so I threw it on in. I'm fairly certain the Cyber Valley card combo may have been over used too, due that I couldn't accurately track what should have been left at the end. That is my fault for not keeping better track. The combo was actually ardee's idea, which I must say, was pretty good. He actually wrote that duel, but I just did my usual thing and made sure it was within range of normalcy like always. Heh, originally, that's what I thought too, that Zane was going to just deck Zell out, but remember, Zane had lost more of his deck to begin with, so he couldn't. That also was a factor in the Cyber Valley combo that I had to think on too, lol. Actually, the Cyber Dragons were a legitimate play. They were removed from play when Overload Fusion was activated. Upon Zane playing Dimension Fusion, they returned, so fusing them together with Power Bond still worked. Then using Cybernetic Fusion Support just removed 2 of them once more, so it all worked out. Anyways, I hope that explains that move a little better. Yes, Darren is in over his head it looks like. Heh, yeah, Darren may have some trouble from Zane and Jesse (Yubel), but we'll see how he does. Never know, he could win it all, lol. Thanks for the review, and for all your help in pointing out the errors in the cards. I'll try to keep from doing it, but like I've said before, it's kind of hard to play it straight all the time. Thanks again!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews today. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciate them. At any rate, I need to run, so I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Chapter 32**

Grabbing a new card, Zane examined it momentarily before feeling a jolt of pain run across his chest, making him grasp it. "_Not now! This pain keeps getting worse. I don't know if I'll be able to withstand it for too much longer. But I will do what I must to protect my brother._"

Examining his new card, Zane glanced up to see a coffin that he had played last turn slowly reappearing on the field, making Darren and Jesse antsy.

"What is this!?" Jesse demanded.

Chuckling, Zane pointed at the card appearing and said "That would be the card I removed from play last turn with Different Dimension Capsule."

"Impossible!" Darren declared. "First off, it hasn't been two Standby Phases for you, and secondly, I destroyed Different Dimension Capsule on my turn!"

"True, but the card I removed was very special. You see, it's a spell known as Card from a Different Dimension, and when removed from play, it returns to my hand on my following Standby Phase. Once it does, all of us draw two cards." Zane explained.

Shrugging, Darren and Jesse drew their two cards. Zane did the same and then he slapped a new card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Cyberdark Edge (800/800)!"

Rising onto the field before him was another machine creature, this one with long metallic wings that had sharp blade feathers. The metallic creature looked like a large bug with a long tail that had a pincher type tail, pinchers on it's mouth, and two stick like arms. The wings on the creature was massive, even larger than it's main body.

Grimacing in pain upon seeing the machine creature, Zane slowly began panting while sweat formed on his forehead and cheeks. In a raspy voice, he said "Like Cyberdark Keel could, this creature can equip a Dragon Type monster to itself. My pick is no surprise to you two, which is Infernal Dragon (2000/0) (800 + 2000 2800/800)."

Appearing onto the field once more was the black dragon with a skin hood around it's face. The machine creature instantly reached out and took hold of the black dragon and plunged wires into it's skin. Instantly, the dragon screeched out in pain, but soon settled down.

"And now, Cyberdark Keel and Cyber Barrier Dragon, attack Darren directly with Keel Strike and Sonic Screech!"

Sending it's tail forward, the black machine dragon struck Darren in the arm, making him cry out in pain as blood sprayed into the air from the attack. He didn't have long to rest though, for the machine dragon with a hood around it's head let out a terrifying screech, which shot a beam of green energy at him. The blast hit home, making Darren scream out in pain and fall to one knee. A moment, later, he stood up, but was panting heavily while glaring at Zane.

"Next, I'll activate Cyberdark Edge's special ability. By cutting it's attack points in half, I can direct attack you Jesse (2800 / 2 1400/800)!"

"What!?" Jesse questioned with a touch of shock.

Smirking, Zane pointed at Jesse and said "Hit him with Sonic Screech Blades!"

Screeching loudly, the machine sent white blades of sound waves flying towards Jesse. The blades instantly made contact and cut into his right shoulder, sending a small spray of blood into the air.

Grabbing his injury, Jesse darkly glared at Zane and coldly said in a mixed voice of Jesse and Yubel "You will pay for that mortal."

"We'll see." Zane smugly commented. "I set a card and end my move." (Darren 4600, Jesse 6600, Zane 7000)

Seething with anger, Darren quickly drew a card and jammed it angrily into a Spell/Trap Slot. "I activate the spell Premature Burial. At a cost of 800 life points, I can resurrect a monster from my Graveyard and equip it with this card. My choice is Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/700)!"

Reappearing onto the field instantly was the thin warrior dressed in gray armor with a blue cape that reached his ankles.

"Don't get too used to him, because I'm sacrificing him to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400/1000)!"

The gray armored warrior instantly vanished from the field once more, only to be replaced by a warrior in dull gray armor with a long black cape.

"And now, with Caius on the field, I can play his special ability! When summoned, he can remove one card from play on the field, so say goodbye to your pathetic Cyberdark Edge there Zane!"

Forming a sphere of black energy before it's body in both of it's hands, the gray armored warrior tossed it straight at the strange looking machine creature. The blast struck it hard, causing a thunderous explosion and making Zane cover his face from the force of the explosion.

"Oh, and Zane, when Caius removes a card, if that card happened to be a Dark Attribute monster, you lose a 1000 life points!"

Without warning, Zane's body began glowing with a black aura, making him scream out in pain as his life points fell. He instantly fell to one knee, panting heavily and gripping his chest tightly.

"Now that he's out of the way, I can move on. Caius, wipe out Jesse's Topaz Tiger with Shadow Orb!"

Forming another sphere of black energy before it's body, the dull gray armored warrior threw the new sphere at the weaker white tiger.

"Now, now, I'm not allowing you to take out my tiger." Jesse cut in. "I play Amber Mammoth's special ability, forcing you to redirect your attack to him!"

Growling lightly, Darren fired back "Big deal! You'll still lose your creature!"

The blast suddenly curved towards the dark gray mammoth and struck it head on. The mammoth instantly exploded, sending smoke and debris flying into the air.

Slowly, the air thinned, revealing an unfazed Jesse with his life points still the same and an amber crystal sitting in front of him. Infuriated, Darren snarled out "Why didn't you lose any life points!?"

"Really simple there Darren." Jesse smugly remarked. "My field spell has some rather nice perks, for when an Advanced Crystal Beast is about to be destroyed, by discarding an Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck to the Grave, I can reduce the Battle Damage to zero. I just tossed out Advanced Crystal Amethyst Cat (1200/400)."

Growling lowly, Darren roughly jammed a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and snarled out "I end!" (Darren 3800, Jesse 6600, Zane 6000)

Drawing, Jesse smirked and said "I think I'll begin my turn by summoning Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1800/1200)!"

Rising up onto the field instantly was a sapphire colored round crystal. The crystal glowed with a black aura for a moment before shattering, revealing a white horse with a black aura surrounding it's body, white wings with orange feathers that had a sapphire colored crystal embedded into each wing, a black horn on it's forehead, and black wrapped near the top of it's hoofs and on the beginning of it's tail.

"With Pegasus being summoned, his effect activates. I can now bring another Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck and special summon it to my Spell/Trap Zone, so I'll pick Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (300/300)!"

Sifting his deck out, Jesse sorted through it for a moment before picking the card he had declared and sliding it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots. Immediately, a ruby colored crystal formed onto the field before him.

"When Ruby is special summoned like it just was, I can special summon it to the field and also special summon all the other Advanced Crystal Beasts in my Spell/Trap Zones. Since I only have Amber Mammoth, that's alright, so rise up Ruby and Mammoth (300/300) (1700/1600)!"

The ruby and amber colored crystals each suddenly glowed with a black aura for a moment before shattering. From the ruby colored crystal, a small blue creature with four pointed ears, ruby colored eyes, a small cat like body, a black collar around it's neck, and a tail with a sphere of ruby on it's tail appeared. Beside of it, the large dark gray mammoth from earlier in the duel reappeared.

"I'll lead off by having Amber Mammoth attack your pathetic Cyber Barrier Dragon!"

Letting out a charging sound, the dark gray mammoth charged forward and moved it's tusks so that it could slam them into the machine dragon.

"Not happening!" Zane declared. "I play Cyber Barrier Dragon's special ability, allowing it to negate your attack!"

Letting out a screeching howl, the machine dragon with a hood around it's head sunk it's head back into it's hood, causing the four antenna around it's head to extend out. A green barrier instantly formed before the dragon's face. The dark gray mammoth slammed it's fully body weight into the barrier, but only ground against it. At long last, the mammoth gave up and returned to it's master's field.

Smirking evilly, Jesse smugly said "Just what I wanted you to do. Now then, Sapphire Pegasus, take flight and crush his Cyber Barrier Dragon with Dark Sapphire Horn!"

Flapping it's wings hard, the white horse creature took to the air and threw it's head back and let out a loud whinny. Turning it's head back down, it's horn glowed with a black aura.

"I'm not going to allow that to happen! I play the trap Cybernetic Hidden Technology, allowing me to effectively sacrifice a Machine Type monster from my field with the word 'Cyber' in it in order to destroy the attacking monster and to end the Battle Phase. I'll send Cyber Barrier Dragon to my Graveyard!"

Vanishing instantly, the machine dragon with a hood around it's head turned into golden dust as the winged horse that was attacking exploded in mid-air.

Growling lowly, Jesse muttered "Not bad, but don't forget, Pegasus comes back as a crystal!"

Materializing before Jesse upon him saying his words was an almost square cut sapphire colored crystal.

"I think I'll let you off the hook for now." (Darren 3800, Jesse 6600, Zane 6000)

Grabbing a new card, Zane suddenly felt a sharp pain run through his body, making him wince greatly while more sweat poured down his face and he began panting lightly. "_The pain keeps getting worse each time I draw. I need to end this and fast!_"

Examining his new card, he turned it towards the pair on the field and said "I activate Pot of Greed! This spell allows me to draw two more cards."

Picking up two new cards, he showed one of them, saying "I activate the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse the two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) in my hand to form Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2000)!"

Rising up onto the field instantly were a pair of machine snake like dragons. The pair swirled together, creating a blinding light. The light soon faded, revealing a twin headed machine snake like dragon with a single tail. Each head instantly let out a mechanical roar.

"Cyber Twin Dragon, strike down Caius with Double Strident Blaze!"

"What!?" Darren roared in surprise.

Without hesitation, the twin headed machine dragon's heads shot out a twin set of golden streams at the gray armored warrior. The twin beams struck the creature at the same moment, making the warrior scream out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

"Why you little…" Darren growled out.

Smirking, Zane called out "Now I play my dragon's ability! It can attack twice in a turn, so I'll strike down Jesse's Amber Mammoth! Go Double Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a roar from each head, the twin headed machine dragon shot a beam straight at the weaker dark gray mammoth. The blast struck home, shattering it upon impact and causing smoke to engulf the field. Soon enough, the smoke faded away, revealing an amber crystal beside of the sapphire colored one.

"I discard Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) from my deck in order to negate the damage." Jesse declared while placing a card into his Graveyard Slot.

Shrugging, Zane pulled another card from his hand and showed it to Darren and Jesse, saying "I activate this spell, De-Fusion! Thanks to this, I can bring back the two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) I used to create it!"

Glowing with a white aura, the twin headed machine dragon split apart into two separate beams of light. Landing on the field, the two beams reformed as two machine snake like dragons, which each let out a mechanical roar.

"Cyber Dragon, slam his tiger with Strident Blaze!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon shot a beam of light blue energy at the white and black tiger, which howled out in pain when struck. It instantly shattered, allowing some of the blast to continue on and strike Jesse, who cried out in pain. A moment later, the pixels of the tiger instantly reformed into a topaz colored crystal before Jesse.

"Is that it?" Jesse arrogantly asked.

Smirking, Zane pointed at Jesse and said "Not quite! Go Cyberdark Keel, destroy Ruby Carbuncle with Keel Strike!"

Sending it's tail racing forward, the black machine dragon plunged it deep into the small blue cat like creature, making it cry out in pain before shattering.

Glaring at Zane, Jesse muttered "Unfortunately, my Spell/Trap Slots are full, so Ruby goes to my Grave."

"Big deal, because you're wide open!" Zane declared. "Direct attack him Cyber Dragon with Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a loud roar, the silver machine dragon launched a beam of light blue energy at Jesse, who crossed his arms to defend himself. The blast struck hard, kicking up dust and dirt. The smoke soon cleared, revealing Jesse glaring at Zane.

"That's it for me." (Darren 3400, Jesse 3500, Zane 6000)

Grabbing a card, Darren examined it and began to darkly chuckle. "It's time I finished you off once and for all Jesse. You've been fun to play with, but this is the end for you! I activate my spell Card of Demise! With it, I draw till I hold five cards, but in five of my Standby Phases, I must discard my entire hand, but I intend to win by then!"

Snapping five cards off of his deck at once, Darren smirked evilly. "I activate the spell Soul Charge! With this, I pay increments of 500 life points for each monster I wish to special summon from my Graveyard. I'll give up 1500 life points to revive my three monarchs! Return now Caius the Shadow Monarch (2400/1000), Granmarg the Rock Monarch (2400/1000), and Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000)!"

Rising up onto the field was three warriors. The first had dull gray armor and wore a black cape, while the next had light brown armor on with a large set of hands, and the last had light blue armor with a dark blue cape.

"I'm not done yet, for I play this ritual spell, Monarch's Crowning! This powerful spell has me check my hand and field for my six Monarch monsters. If I have all six, I send them to my Graveyard and am allowed to summon an all powerful monster known as Enzeru the Divine Monarch (5000/4500)! So, farewell Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000), Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400/1000), Raiza the Storm Monarch (2400/1000), Caius the Shadow Monarch, Granmarg the Rock Monarch, and Mobius the Frost Monarch, and hello Enzeru the Divine Monarch!"

After Darren placed all six cards into his Graveyard Slot, the six were sucked in and a brilliant golden glow filled the field. Materializing behind Darren was a massive golden warrior in full body armor rose up. In the warrior's right hand was a massive golden axe. The body of the warrior glowed with a brilliant golden aura. Shifting the axe into it's two hands, the armor of the golden armor of the warrior clanked.

"How is that possible!" Jesse asked in complete surprise and shock.

Smirking at Jesse, Darren smugly said "It just is. I play Enzeru's special ability! Once per a turn, I can activate the special ability of one of my Monarch's. I choose Caius's, which means I can remove a card from the game. I pick Zane's remaining Cyberdark Keel, and since it's a Dark Attribute monster, you lose another 1000 life points!"

Shifting the axe into it's left hand, the large golden creature turned it's right palm towards the weaker black machine dragon. A sphere of darkness instantly formed within the warrior's palm. A moment later, the sphere went racing across the field and slammed into the machine dragon, making it howl out in pain before shattering. The remainder of the blast went on and struck Zane, making him scream out in pain and fall to one knee. Sweat poured down his face while his breathing was erratic and he grasped his chest tightly. Weakly, Zane forced himself back up, but wobbled a bit.

"Looks like you're almost at your limit." Darren smugly remarked. "But there is someone else I need to attend to. Since I just summoned Enzeru this turn, it's effect keeps me from attacking, but I can fix that with my face down spell, which is Quick Attack! Enzeru, destroy Jesse with Golden Axe Strike!"

Grasping hold of the axe's hilt with both hands, the large golden armored warrior drew the axe back over it's head and sent it racing downwards towards Jesse, who only smirked and darkly chuckled.

"I'm thru playing with you Darren." Jesse commented. "I play my trap, Rainbow Path! With this, I sacrifice a crystal off my field and negate your attack. I send Amber Mammoth to my Grave, allowing me to negate your attack!"

Appearing above Jesse instantly was a rainbow colored barrier. The large axe slammed hard into the barrier, sending out rainbow colored sparks. After a few moments of grinding it's axe against it, the golden warrior stopped it's attack and pulled it's axe back.

Growling lowly, Darren snarled out "You…"

"Yes me." Jesse smugly remarked. "And since I just played Rainbow Path, it's secondary effect kicks in, allowing me to place a certain card into my hand. Don't worry, you'll see it next turn since you have to end your turn."

Clenching his jaw tightly, Darren screamed out "I end!" (Darren 1900, Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

Drawing his card slowly, Jesse darkly chuckled as his voice mixed in with Yubel's. "It's been fun messing around with you Darren, but I have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Why you bothered to come to this world, I don't care, but I'll gladly take your Duel Energy."

"You're insane!" Darren declared. "You have no chance at beating me with those pathetic creatures!"

Smirking evilly, Jesse darkly replied "Who said I was using them to beat you? I'm using a creature whose power outranks even your own. Since I have seven Advanced Crystal Beasts either on my field or in my Graveyard, I can now special summon Rainbow Dark Dragon (4000/0)!"

Glowing with a rainbow coloring, Jesse's Duel Disk's Graveyard shot out four beams of twisted light. The three crystals on his field responded instantly and did the same. The seven beams twisted together in the air and collided together. A blinding rainbow aura flared up, making all but Jesse cover their faces. After a moment, the aura died down, revealing a large black scaled dragon that had a long snake like body, huge black feather wings on the top part, a sharp spike sticking out the top of it's head and off the back of it's head, a pair of wings off the sides of it's head, and golden like pronged wings that didn't move. On the sides of the top part of the dragon were seven jewels, on for each color of the other creatures.

"Not bad, but not good enough to defeat me." Darren smugly remarked.

Smirking, Jesse coolly replied "Maybe so, but watch this! By sacrificing a few of my crystals from my field, I can increase my dragon's attack points by a 1000 for each one (4000 + 1000 2 6000/0)!"

Transforming into two beams of light, the two crystals vanished and their beams shot straight at the dragon's body. The dragon let out a loud roar as it's strength increased.

"NO!!" Darren growled out.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse smugly said "You're finished now, because I play his spell! It's called Rainbow's Force! With it, for this turn alone, if my dragon destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to that monster's original attack points. I believe that's game for you."

Eyes widening with terror pouring out of them, Darren roughly shook his head, saying "No, you can't!"

"I can, and I am." Jesse replied with an evil gleam in his orange eyes. "Crush his Monarch with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Letting out a terrifying roar, the large black dragon opened it's jaws as rainbow colored energy poured out from within them. After a moment of gathering up it's energy, the dragon spat a stream of rainbow colored energy at the golden warrior, striking it hard. The strike caused a thunderous explosion, sending debris and smoke throughout the field.

"And now Darren, it's time to pay the piper. Your monster's attack points come out of your life points! Farewell fool!"

Opening it's jaws once more, the black dragon spat a blast of rainbow energy straight at a terrified Darren. The blast hit him head on, making him let out an inhuman scream. Zane could only watch with eyes wide open as Darren's human form slowly faded away, leaving nothing behind.

Darkly laughing, Jesse pointed at Zane, saying "You're next Zane, so prepare yourself. I end my turn, so be prepared to lose." (Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

Glancing back at Syrus, Zane clenched his jaw and returned his vision to where Darren had once stood. Seeing nothing left of the once proud young man, he cast a glance at Jesse.

"_Jesse is far more dangerous than I first thought. He coldly got rid of Darren, meaning he won't hesitate to get rid of me. Still, I aim to win this duel, so I will fight on!_"

Feeling a jolt of pain in his chest, Zane grimaced in pain and grabbed hold of his chest. "_Damn, the pain is increasing. I need to finish this soon, or else I may not last._"

"What's wrong Zane? In too much pain to finish?" Jesse mockingly asked.

Releasing his hold on his chest, Zane drew his card and fired back "I'm not done yet! I activate the spell Photon Generator Unit! By sacrificing both of my Cyber Dragons, I can now summon the Cyber Laser Dragon (2400/1800)!"

Letting out a mechanical roar each, the two machine dragons vanished from the field in a golden glow. Rising up onto the field in their place was a snake like machine dragon with a sleek head, several arched spikes sticking out of the creature's body with a blue set of lines running down part of it's body, and on it's tail was a strange six leaf like structure that was closed.

"Why bother with that dragon? It's too weak to take on my Rainbow Dark Dragon." Jesse smugly remarked.

Smirking, Zane smartly replied "Maybe so, but my dragon has a very special ability. You see, once per a turn, it can destroy a monster on the field with 2400 or more attack or defense points."

"Wait, that means…" Jesse began, but was cut off by Zane. "That means your Rainbow Dark Dragon is history! Hit him with Blue Lightning Lash!"

Aiming it's tail at the large black dragon, the machine dragon opened it's leaf like tail to reveal a laser within it. In a flash, a blue blinding beam fired from the laser and struck the large black dragon, making it howl out in pain and cause a large explosion, sending out smoke throughout the field.

Slowly, the smoke began settling, revealing the large black dragon was still on the field and softly growling. "What!? How can that be!?" Zane furiously asked.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse smugly said "It's very simple Zane. Whenever my dragon is in danger of being destroyed, I can send a crystal from my field to the Grave and save it."

Clenching his right fist tightly, Zane lowly growled to himself as the remaining crystal before Jesse faded away. "Great… I'll end my turn." (Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

"Well then, it looks like you're in for a turn of pain!" Jesse declared while drawing a card. "I activate the spell Crystal Blessing, which allows me to special summon two Advanced Crystal Beasts from my Graveyard and place them into my Spell/Trap Zones. My choices are Advanced Crystal Beasts Emerald Turtle (600/2000) and Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field before Jesse with dark auras was a green and amber colored set of crystals. Pointing at Zane, Jesse cried out "Rainbow Dark Dragon, destroy his Laser Dragon with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws and began gathering energy up. A rainbow colored circle appeared before it's mouth, seemingly signifying it's destructive power.

Pointing at his trap quickly, Zane called out "Don't forget, I still have Cybernetic Hidden Technology! I play it, meaning I have to sacrifice my Cyber Laser Dragon!"

Vanishing from the field in a glow of golden energy was the machine dragon. The large black dragon suddenly stopped it's attack and began to glow with a red aura, making it howl in pain.

Scowling at Zane, Jesse pointed at his emerald colored crystal before him, saying "I activate Rainbow Dark Dragon's effect and sacrifice Emerald Turtle to keep my dragon alive."

A green aura instantly flared to life around the large black dragon, making the red glow disperse at last. The green crystal then vanished while the black dragon let out a growl of irritation.

"I guess you'll live for another turn. I end." (Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

Drawing his card quietly, Zane examined it and smirked. "I summon Cyberdark Horn (800/800) in defense!"

Instantly materializing onto the field was a metallic bug like creature with many sharp spiky wings, a series of spikes, four pronged spiked arms, a sharp tail, and a strange set of jaws with a three purple spots on it's head appeared with a primitive roar. The creature instantly set down into a defensive stance.

"And with me summoning Cyberdark Horn, it's effect kicks in. Now I can equip my monster with a Dragon Type monster. The one I choose is Infernal Dragon (2000/0), and it's points are added to my Horn (800 + 2000 2800/800)!"

Rising onto the field once more, a black dragon with a hood of skin roared to life. Reaching out, the machine creature ran wires to the dragon and pulled it to it's body. Like before, the dragon thrashed about, but soon settled.

"I'll leave it at that." (Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

"Pathetic." Jesse smugly remarked while drawing a card. "If that's the best you can do, then you're finished! Go Rainbow Dark Dragon, destroy Zane's little creature with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black dragon took aim and shot a beam of rainbow energy straight at the strange looking machine creature. The beam hit the machine monster head on, causing a large explosion and sending smoke flying.

"Looks like you're defenseless now Zane!" Jesse smartly said.

Slowly, the smoke began clearing, revealing Zane first, who smirked and said "You better look again there Jesse! I seem to have some protection left!"

Unsure of what Zane spoke of, Jesse gasped in shock when the machine creature appeared out of the smoke, seemingly unharmed. "What's this!? That monster should be slag right now!"

"Should of, could of, would of, but not." Zane wistfully remarked. "You see, when Cyberdark Horn is attacked, it's his equip card that takes the hit, not itself, so my Horn was spared."

Growling loudly, Jesse jammed a card into one of his Spell/Trap Slots and sharply said "I end with a face down." (Jesse 3500, Zane 5000)

Letting out a sigh of relief, Zane looked at his deck for a moment before a sharp spike of pain coursed through his body. Closing his eyes tightly, Zane felt sweat rolling off his forehead and cheeks. Panting lightly, he clutched his chest tightly.

"What's the matter Zane? About to give up the ghost?" Jesse taunted.

Snapping his eyes open, Zane released his hold on his chest and drew a card. "I refuse to give up and die here! Watch as I summon Cyber Valley (0/0)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a silver machine snake like dragon with spike like scale armor, with eight red half spheres on it's belly.

"Why bother playing a weakling like that? Your defenses won't hold forever!" Jesse yelled angrily.

Smirking, Zane sharply replied "My dragon may not have much power, but it has three different effects. I activate it's second one, which has me remove itself and another monster, which happens to be my Cyberdark Horn, from play. I then draw two cards."

Vanishing from the field at the same time in a flash of golden light, both machine creatures completely disappeared. Picking up two cards, Zane smirked at them. "I activate the spell Overload Fusion, allowing me to remove from play some Machine Type monsters to summon a Fusion Type monster. I remove all three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800), Cyber Laser Dragon (2400/1800), Cyber Ouroboros (100/600), and Cyber Phoenix (1200/1600) from play in order to summon Chimeratech Fortress Dragon (0/0)!"

Slowly rising up out of the sand behind Zane was a large snake like machine dragon with round circular joints that had closed portals in them, with two spikes on top of each joint. The head of the dragon had two large blue eyes and several spikes leading down to it's circular joints. Letting out a loud roar, the dragon glared at the black dragon across the field.

"By the way, by removing Cyber Ouroboros from play, I'm allowed to discard a card and draw another card. I toss out Card from a Different Dimension and draw."

Picking up a new card, Zane examined it while Jesse began cackling. In a mixed voice with Yubel's, he smugly said "You're a fool! That dragon of yours is far too weak to take on my Rainbow Dark Dragon! If you wanted to lose, you should have said so."

Smirking, Zane smartly replied "It's true, my dragon doesn't have much bite to it to destroy a monster, but it's effect more than makes up for that. You see, whenever it attacks, I receive zero Battle Damage. Also, you take 400 points of direct damage."

Growling lowly, Jesse fired back in his mixed voice "Bring it on!"

"Oh, it's about to be brought on, and I should warn you about one other thing about Chimeratech. For each card I removed from play to summon it, that is the number of times my monster can attack. So get ready for a heavy pummeling! Hit him with Sonic Screech!"

Roaring loudly, the machine dragon opened it's jaws and released a stream of high pressured sound waves. The stream struck the black dragon head on, making it howl in pain while the remainder of the blast struck Jesse, making him cry out.

"Hit him again!" Zane commanded.

Letting out a roar of acknowledgment, the machine dragon opened up all of it's circular joints, revealing a neck and head of six more machine dragons. Each opened their jaws at the same time and released a stream of sound waves. The six beams struck the large black dragon, making it howl out in tremendous pain. The backlash of the blast slammed into Jesse, making him cry out while his life points fell dramatically.

Smirking, Zane smugly asked "Still think my dragon is weak?"

Growling lowly, Jesse's voice mixed with Yubel's fired back "You will pay for that!"

"We'll see." Zane smartly replied. "I set a card face down and end my turn." (Jesse 700, Zane 5000)


	33. Author Note: Apology

Hey everybody,

Hey everybody,

Well, I must first off profusely apologize. Saturday, my mate and I arrived at Myrtle Beach, SC, all set for a week of relaxation and fun. I brought my computer with me to post chapters and possibly write, but came to a startling realization: we have no wireless internet. I found a way to post this up to you all, but still, it is very frustrating to find out we have no wireless internet. We were supposed to, from what I remember of the motel. Anyways, I'm deeply sorry, but due to this, it makes posting new chapters kind of rather hard, so for this week, I'm not going to post chapters. I'm truly sorry that I can't. I had planned on posting 2 this week since I was gone, but with no reliable internet on standby, it's just impossible to. Again, I'm sorry about this and hope you all can forgive me for it. I will return home in a week, so first thing on August 25th, I will post a new chapter, with me more than likely posting at least 2 or 3 that week to try and make up for this fiasco at the beach.

Anyways, I hope all of you have a wonderful week, and if I find an easier way to get on, I won't hesitate to post chapters, but as of right now, it looks like I'm pretty much boned on posting. Again, my apologies on not getting to post. Farewell.

Illidan the Half Demon


	34. Chapter 33: Sadness and Bargains

**Hey everyone! Well, I must say, it is good to be home after a nice, long, relaxing vacation down at the beach. My mate and I had a great time there. We met up with my mom, sister, and her boyfriend, and we all had a good time throughout the week. This past Monday was mine and my mate's 2****nd**** wedding anniversary, which we celebrated by having a day alone together. What we did, well, I can't say, lol. But we had a great time together, that much was certain. The rest of the week was pretty good, although my mate got a light sunburn on Tuesday, and then a worse one on Wednesday, so she didn't go out the rest of the week. We arrived back Saturday at home in the early evening, so we got to rest up since then. Really, I didn't buy much at the beach. I only ended up buying some work shirts, a pumpkin spice candle (smells like pumpkin pie, lol), some Sharpie markers, a set of dry erase markers (for work), a few DVDs that I wanted (which were old movies, so cheap, lol), and a few other minor things. My mate did better on the shopping end, without a doubt, lol. Anyways, it's great to be home in a lot of ways, although home is so dry (we're in a really dry spell at the moment). Other than that, life is normal.**

**First off, I must apologize for not posting any last week. I originally thought I would have wireless internet in our room, but quickly found out I was mistaken the day I arrived. I found out I could go down to our realtor's office and get onto their wireless network, but I declined. It was a mile away, so I wasn't interested in doing that. My second option for getting on the net was my dial up connection. I cringed at doing that, but I did it to alert everyone that I wouldn't be posting. Again, it is my fault, so I'm sorry.**

**At any rate, to make up for it, I am posting twice this week, so yay! And now, moving on, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Heh, yes, you'd think Zane would have got a break after saving Syrus, but no, he has to battle a possessed Jesse and idiot named Darren, lol. I guess I am pretty cruel to my characters, hehe. Glad you liked seeing the two decks of Jesse and Zane, plus Darren's. Hmm, Jaden destined to defeat Yubel, eh? Never know, it may happen. Good question about the darker Illidan. He's been busy and not shown himself yet, but trust me, when he does, it will be interesting. Thanks for the review!**

**philosopher-kaiser: Actually, the card isn't mine, but it's the coauthor's, ardee. He created it in his story, but I borrowed it for mine. I changed how it was summoned and all, but overall, it's nearly the same. True, it was a bit over the top, but so worth it in the end, hehe. Hmm, I don't remember if I forgot to have Topaz attack or not. I think he was gone actually, to be honest. Heh, glad you liked the finishing spell that Jesse used against Darren. True, Rainbow Dark Dragon is using anime effects, so it's kind of different. I think the show's effects were a bit better than the OCG was. Thanks for the review!"**

**Thank you both for your reviews! I appreciate both of you for leaving them. Also, thank you to the person who added this story to their favorites. Your name escapes me at the moment, sadly, so I can't really say who you are.**

**At any rate, I'm done for this round. I hope you all enjoy!**

**Chapter 33**

Glaring harshly at Zane, Jesse drew his card without a second thought. Examining the card, Jesse evilly smirked and pointed at the weaker machine dragon, saying "You're going to pay for last turn! Obliterate Zane's creature with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the large black scaled dragon released a stream of rainbow colored energy from it's jaws at the weaker machine dragon.

"Did you really think I'd leave myself open?" Zane questioned, making Jesse frown. "Go Dimension Explosion! This spell now returns one Fusion monster to my deck, and then we may special summon as many removed from play monsters as we can."

Eyes widening, Jesse yelled in shock "That means for the price of one dragon, you can have up to five!"

"That's right!" Zane stated while his large machine dragon vanished in a field of golden dust. A moment passed before above the field, a rift opened. Flying out of the rift instantly were five machine snake creatures, with three being the same and the other two looking different from one another.

Smirking, Zane pointed at his new creatures, saying "Thanks to my spell, I just returned all three of my Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), Cyber Valley (0/0), and Cyber Ouroboros (100/600). And next, since you're still attacking, I play my Cybernetic Hidden Technology and sacrifice one of my Cyber Dragons to it!"

Growling loudly while one of the machine dragon's vanished and the black dragon on his own field was glowing with a red aura, Jesse snarled out "I play Rainbow Dark Dragon's ability. I send my last crystal to my Grave, meaning my dragon survives."

The remaining crystal faded away in a golden light, causing the red aura around the black dragon to vanish. Still glaring at Zane, Jesse spat out "Just take your turn." (Jesse 700, Zane 5000)

Nodding lightly, Zane drew his next card, but felt his chest tighten as pain coursed through his heart once more. Clutching his chest tightly, he panted lightly while softly smirking.

"It's over for you Yubel. Get ready to leave that body, because I'm about to evict you." Zane confidently remarked. "I first play Cyber Valley's second effect, effectively removing it from play along with Cyber Ouroboros so I can draw two new cards. And since I just got rid of Ouroboros, I discard a card from my hand and draw another new one."

Tossing the card he held into his Graveyard Slot, Zane picked up three new cards and examined them for a moment. Selecting one, he showed it to Jesse, saying "I activate this spell next, Fusion Recovery! With this, I can return a Fusion Material monster from my Graveyard, along with Polymerization, to my hand. My pick is Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)."

One by one, the two cards slowly slid out of Zane's Graveyard Slot. Picking them up, he placed one of the two back into his hand and picked another one. Turning them towards Jesse, he confidently said "It's over Yubel! I activate the spell Power Bond, allowing me to fuse my two Cyber Dragons on the field with the one in my hand! Now come together and form Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Rematerializing onto the field beside of the other two machine dragons was a third snake like machine dragon. The three swirled together and formed a brilliant white blinding light. Jesse saw the blinding light and had no choice but to cover his eyes. After a moment, the light died down, revealing a large silver three headed machine dragon with a large set of wings on it's back and single tail. Each head let out a massive roar which shook the ground.

"And thanks to the effect of my Power Bond, my dragon's attack points are doubled (4000 2 8000/2800)!"

Letting out a massive roar, the three headed dragon's body began glowing with a white glow as it's power doubled.

Staring at the dragon with wide eyes, Jesse growled lowly and yelled out "That beast has so much power!"

"You're finished Yubel! Surrender, or I'll get rid of you once and for all." Zane stated.

Chuckling darkly in her feminine voice, Yubel smugly replied "The only way you'll get me out of Jesse is if you defeat me."

"Very well then, it's time I get you out of Jesse's body, once and for all! Cyber End Dragon, blast that dragon with Super Strident Blaze!"

Raising each head, the three headed mechanical dragon opened each of it's three head's jaws and took aim at the black dragon. Light blue energy slowly began to form in the jaws of each dragon while their power continued to build.

"Not so fast there Zane!" Jesse declared while pointing his face down card, which quickly rose up. "I play my Crystal Counter trap! With this, I can revive up to five Advanced Crystal Beasts from my Graveyard and place them into my Spell/Trap Zones."

Glowing to life, five beams of rainbow colored energy shot out of Jesse's Graveyard Slot and shot out onto the field. Appearing from each light was a different colored crystal, each emitting a dark aura.

"And if that wasn't troublesome enough for you, I activate Rainbow Dark Dragon's special ability, allowing me to send all five crystals back to my Graveyard and increase my dragon's attack points by a 1000 for each crystal. I count five, meaning my dragon gains 5000 more attack points (6000 + 1000 5 11000/0)!"

Immediately, the five crystals glowed to life and shot a beam of energy back at Jesse's Graveyard Slot. The crystals all vanished while the large black dragon glowed to life with a rainbow aura and softly growled out as it's power increased greatly.

Staring with wide eyes at the more powerful black dragon, Zane gripped his chest tightly as more sweat poured down his face and pain coursed through his body. Gritting his teeth, he began chuckling lightly.

"Laughing!? What could possibly be so funny!?" Jesse demanded angrily. "Your dragon is outmatched! You can't beat me no matter what you do!"

Bursting out loud laughing in her feminine voice, Yubel smugly asked "How does it feel knowing that you failed to protect your little brother? You're not going to defeat me or save Jesse."

"Maybe…" Zane smartly remarked, but grimaced in pain. "But I'm not done with this duel yet! I activate my spell, Cybernetic Zone! This forces me to remove from play my Cyber End Dragon!"

"You're what!?" Jesse howled in surprise while the large machine dragon vanished bit by bit, leaving nothing behind Zane. "You stand no chance at winning now!"

"Possibly, but I'm not about to quit. I set this card and move to my End Phase." Zane remarked while pain flashed through his face. "Now I must pay for using my Power Bond. Although it granted my dragon double it's original attack points, I take damage to my life points equal to my dragon's original attack points. That's 4000 unfortunately."

Glowing with a dark red aura, Zane screamed out in pain as his body was racked with pain from losing more of his points.

Gradually waking to the sound of his brother's screaming, Syrus slowly sat up and shook his head a bit. Finally clearing the fuzziness from his mind, he glanced before him and saw his brother glowing with a dark red aura with someone else across the field from him with a large black dragon. Eyes widening, Syrus stood quickly and began making his way towards his brother weakly.

"ZANE!" Syrus cried out with worry.

The dark red aura slowly faded away, leaving a weakly standing Zane. Sweat was pouring down his face while his breathing was in heavy pants. Hearing his approaching brother, he glanced over his shoulder and meekly smiled. "Syrus…" he whispered in a raspy voice.

"Ah, so the little brother has awoken." Jesse smartly said. "I'll enjoy tearing him apart once I'm done with you."

Casting a weak glare at Jesse, Zane clutched his chest tightly as pain racked his body. Slowly turning back towards Syrus, Zane weakly said "Syrus, you must run."

"Zane… No, I won't leave you!" Syrus argued back with tears in his eyes.

Grimacing in pain, Zane raised his voice slightly, firing back "Syrus, you have to run! I don't want you to watch what's about to happen!"

Eyes widening, Syrus glanced at the pair of duelists and saw that his brother was trying to tell him to leave. Tears flowed plentifully down his cheeks and he shook his head and said "Zane, no…"

"Just go Syrus." Zane weakly mumbled. "I don't know what's about to happen, so I don't want you to watch. Just run, and don't stop till you find Illidan, Marie, Jaden, Yugi, Seto, Chazz, or Alexis. Tell them that Zell is gone now, and that you're free. And tell them I'm sorry that I failed to save Jesse."

Pausing for a moment when pain flared up within his body, Zane clenched his eyes tightly while clutching his chest tightly. Opening them once more, he meekly said "One more thing before you go Syrus."

In a tender voice, Zane smiled and added "I'm proud of you Syrus, and will always be. Don't forget, I love you little brother."

Turning back towards Jesse, Zane yelled over his shoulder "Now run Syrus!"

With tears flowing down his face, Syrus weakly nodded and softly said "Thank you brother… Please, return to me!"

"I will, if I can." Zane meekly said. "Now go!"

Turning away from the duel, Syrus took off running. Sneering at the retreating figure, Jesse smugly said "Having your little brother run away so he doesn't have to watch him die, how dramatic."

Smirking, Zane smartly replied "I wouldn't be too sure of yourself. After all, I'm not done yet!"

"Really? What do you plan on doing to me?" Jesse arrogantly asked with a cocked eyebrow. "It doesn't matter what you play now. You're finished, and it's my move!"

"Not quite!" Zane declared. "I have to end my turn, and besides, my End Phase isn't over!"

The ground suddenly began to quake while dust and dirt was kicked up around the field behind Zane. Without warning, a brilliant golden glow filled the air as the large mechanical three headed snake like dragon reappeared onto the field with a massive roar from each head (16000/2800).

"WHAT!? WHY IS THAT DRAGON BACK, AND WHY DOES IT HAVE 16000 ATTACK POINTS!?" Yubel's voice cut through the air.

Lightly chuckling, Zane smoothly said "Because of my Cybernetic Zone spell. You see, on the turn I activate it, my dragon returns during that End Phase with double it's attack points (8000 2 16000/2800)."

Eyes widening in surprise, Jesse clenched his jaw and harshly spat out "There must be a catch!"

"You'll see." Zane smartly remarked. Grimacing from pain, he weakly added "I end my turn." (Jesse 700, Zane 1000)

Glaring at Zane, Jesse drew his card and examined it. A large smirk appeared on his face. "It's time for you to disappear at long last. I activate the final spell that will crush you! I play the equip spell Megamorph to my dragon, doubling it's attack points (11000 2 22000/0)!"

Letting out a tremendous roar, the black dragon spread it's wings and snarled loudly at the three headed machine dragon.

"And now, be gone and let the Shadows feed on your soul!" Yubel's angry voice declared through Jesse. Pointing a finger at Zane, the combination of Jesse and Yubel's voices shouted out "Send him and his dragon to the Shadows with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Releasing another tremendous roar, the large black dragon opened it's jaws, causing rainbow colored energy to spill from it. With a thunderous force, the dragon fired a beam straight at the three headed machine dragon, which stood it's ground.

Weakly, Zane pointed at his face down card and said "I think not Yubel. I activate my trap Roll Out! With this, I can now take a Union Type monster from my Graveyard and equip it to it's correct target. My choice is Armored Cybern (0/2000), and I equip it to my Cyber End Dragon!"

Instantly materializing onto the field was a blue and gold colored jet like machine that had two long cannon barrels protruding from it. Without warning, the creature glowed golden and transformed into a blinding golden light. The light shot straight at the machine dragon and surrounded it's chest area. After a moment, the light faded, revealing the jet like machine had become a chest plate for the dragon with the twin cannon barrels pointed out.

"This monster doesn't raise my dragon's points at all, but you'll see what happens now. Cyber End Dragon, counter with Super Strident Blaze!"

Letting out a massive roar, the machine dragon opened all three sets of it's jaws and released a stream of white energy from each mouth. The three blasts combined into one stream and struck the darkened rainbow colored stream. For a moment, the two streams ground against one another, with each seemingly equal in strength. After a moment though, the beam of white energy was shoved roughly back all the way to the machine dragon and blasted it.

A large explosion ensued that covered all of the area Zane had been standing in. In the distance, Syrus glanced back and stopped running. Turning towards the explosion, he felt hot tears running down his face as he fell to his knees.

"BIG BROTHER!" he screamed out while tears fell plentifully.

Back at the battle, Jesse sneered at the glowing explosion. The glowing slowly faded away, revealing nothing but smoke and dust. "So much for beating me, eh Zane?" he smartly remarked with Yubel's voice mixed into his own.

Suddenly, there was a mechanical roar and the dust parted, revealing the large mechanical three headed dragon. Below it, panting heavily and on his knees with his eyes shadowed by his bangs sat Zane.

Eyes widening with shock and surprise, Yubel's feminine voice cut through the air, yelling "HOW DID YOUR DRAGON SURIVIVE!"

Still panting heavily, Zane managed to barely chuckle and replied in a raspy voice "Remember Roll Out equipped one of my Union monsters. When a monster with a Union Type monster is attacked, the Union Type monster is sent to the Graveyard instead of the monster it's equipped to."

"Why you…" Yubel ground out with Jesse's teeth clenched.

Coughing weakly, Zane slightly smirked and mumbled "Unfortunately, that doesn't save me from the Battle Damage associated with the attack… But at least my dragon survived…"

With his final words said, Zane fell face forward onto the ground with a small thud. The mighty three headed dragon let out a remorseful roar while staring down at it's master. Slowly, the dragon faded away while Zane's body was covered by a black aura. Bit by bit, he vanished into the darkness, in the end leaving nothing behind but a smirking Jesse.

"It's finished." Jesse declared to himself. With a small smirk, he turned in the direction Syrus had run off in and sneered. "Now to find that brat and have a little fun with him."

In the distance, Syrus slowly stood while wiping the tears away from his face. He slightly sniffled once more and saw that the large machine dragon was indeed gone.

"Big brother…" he whimpered.

In his mind, Syrus heard the final words that his older brother had spoken to him, which had completely surprised him. "_I'm proud of you Syrus, and will always be. Don't forget, I love you little brother._"

Gathering his courage, Syrus turned away from the former battlefield and began running as hard as his legs could carry him. "_I won't let you down Zane. I'll find the others, and together, we'll take down Jesse!_"

--

Trudging along through the sandy wasteland, Marie raised a hand up to cover her eyes from the gloomy sunlight and glanced ahead. Finding nothing but wasteland still, she heavily sighed.

"Damn, still no sign of anyone…" she grumbled aloud. "_Maybe I shouldn't have let Illidan run off after all a few days ago. I was just so angry and frustrated. Instead of trying to understand him, I pushed him away and let him leave on his own._"

Feeling hot tears beginning to well up in her eyes, she brought her hands up to her face and wept into them. "_I'm a horrible wife for not thinking of him. He was hurting inside just as much, if not more than I was, and I just pushed him away when I should have drawn him closer. Will I ever find him again I wonder? And if I do, will he forgive me for acting like I did?_"

Weakly smiling, she used her sleeves to wipe her eyes and glanced ahead once more. "_I know he'll take me back. He understands that I'm under a lot of strain as well, and that I'm just really worried about Arya._"

--

Continuing to move along, Marie let out a sigh of relief when she saw a small forest coming up in the distance. Reaching it, she took a drink of water from the bottle that she had. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she moved deeper into the forest, finding a stream that had fresh water.

Filling her bottle back up, she decided to clean up since she had water to do so and began searching the area for a suitable bathing area. Her search was interrupted suddenly when she heard a mighty roar echoing throughout the forest.

"What the hell was that?" Marie asked aloud while glancing around the forest.

Finding the source of what she had heard, she saw a large towering black dragon with rainbow colored gems on it's sides near the edge of the forest. Near it stood a large combination robot with it's body seemingly showing it's readiness to attack.

Running to the area where the two creatures were, Marie soon came to the edge of the forest and saw two figures squaring off in a duel. The first she instantly recognized as Syrus, who seemed to have a look of anger. Eyeing the second one, it took her a moment, but slowly, Marie recognized the young man as Jesse.

Unsure of what to do, she began moving towards the pair and calmly said "Jesse, Syrus."

"Stay back Professor Marie!" Syrus coldly called out.

"Syrus, is that really you?" she asked with curiosity.

Throwing her a quick glance, Syrus replied "Yes, it's me. Zane managed to get rid of Zell, who was controlling me apparently. But not too long after freeing me, he got into another duel, and lost. It was a duel with this guy, Jesse, but this isn't really Jesse, I have to guess. He's being controlled by someone called Yubel."

"Yubel…" Marie murmured while glancing at the young man that she had come to know during the tournament. "You mean Yubel is within him, controlling him?"

"Not exactly." a feminine voice spoke up from Jesse's body. With a smirk and dark purple glow, Jesse, with Yubel's voice, added "I am controlling this boy's body, but I am not within him. I merely control him, that's all. The real me is elsewhere."

"I see…" Marie dryly remarked. "Why are you battling Syrus then?"

Sneering, Jesse's voice mixed with Yubel's replied "I'm going to crush this brat on a whim. He was Zell's vessel, but that doesn't matter. Zell is dead thanks to Zane, but now I wish to sever all ties with that body. So, if you excuse me, I'm going to finish the job."

"Not likely since I have my Super Vehicroid – Stealth Union (3600/3000) on the field. And don't forget, I formed it using my Power Bond, doubling it's attack points (3600 2 7200/3000)." Syrus explained.

Smirking, Jesse smugly replied "That maybe so, but your little toy loses half it's attack points when it attacks, meaning you're completely outmatched."

Chuckling lightly, Syrus shook his head and showed a remaining card in his hand. "Not quite, because a duel isn't over till the last card is played, and the one I'm playing will win me this duel! I activate the spell Limiter Removal, doubling my Stealth Union's attack points (7200 2 14400/3000)!"

Glowing with a white energy aura, the machine monster took up an offensive stance and drew back both it's arms. Raising them into the air, the machine creature let out a small groan and then brought it's arms back down into an attack position.

"Good game Jesse, but it's over. Now to avenge my brother! Super Vehicroid – Stealth Union, pound his dragon and end this duel (14400 / 2 7200/3000)!"

Racing forward, the machine creature pulled back a mighty hand, which began glowing with white energy. Nearing the black towering dragon, the machine creature sent the fist flying forward straight for the dragon's face.

"As much fun as this is, little Syrus, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut your fun short." Jesse smugly remarked. "I play my trap, Crystal Counter, allowing me to fill my Spell/Trap Zones full of my Advanced Crystal Beasts from my Graveyard."

Glowing to life with a rainbow colored light, Jesse's Graveyard Slot shot out five beams of light, which landed onto the field and created five different colored crystals.

"I wouldn't get too cozy with them, for I play my dragon's ability, sending all five back to the Graveyard to increase my dragon's strength by a 1000 for each crystal (4000 + 1000 5 9000/0)."

With a mighty roar thundering onto the field, each of the five crystals glowed to life and shot a beam out of themselves at Jesse's Graveyard Slot. The five crystals soon enough vanished while the large black dragon glowed with a rainbow colored aura.

Staring in shock and surprise, Syrus whispered "No, it's not possible…"

"But it is little Syrus." Jesse mockingly replied. "Counter that scrap heap now Rainbow Dark Dragon with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring loudly, the large black dragon opened it's jaws and fired a beam of rainbow colored energy straight at the attacking machine creature. The beam shot straight through the machine's right fist and completely through it's body. Instantly, the machine creature stopped it's movement and exploded, sending debris and smoke throughout the field.

Coughing weakly, Syrus stared over at Jesse and then fell to his knees. "I've lost…" he muttered in defeat. "Power Bond takes the last of my life points."

"And good ridden, you little pest." Jesse smartly remarked.

"SYRUS!" Marie cried out and rushed to the small young man. Reaching him, she pulled him to her chest and kissed the top of his head while his body began to glow with a dark aura.

In a meek whisper, he said "I'm sorry Professor Marie for this whole mess. I wasn't strong enough to stop Zell, and it cost my brother in the end. I'm so sorry…"

"Shush now, it's alright." Marie quietly said while running her fingers through his hair. "You did the best you could, and I'm proud of you Syrus. Don't worry, I'll get you and your brother back, I promise."

Syrus was about to answer when his body completely vanished, leaving Marie and Jesse alone as the image of the black dragon faded away. Turning away, Jesse began walking away till Marie called out after him.

"Coward, why do you leave when you have another fight?" she demanded furiously.

Stopping in his tracks, Jesse slowly turned around and cracked a sinister smirk. "So, you're going to avenge that boy, eh? How noble of you!" he sarcastically remarked.

Glaring harshly at Jesse, Marie tightly said "You should be ashamed of yourself Yubel. Going after Jaden was one thing, but taking out Syrus and Zane was another. You'll pay for both of them, I swear it!"

"Unlikely. You don't have what it takes to defeat me." Jesse commented with Yubel's voice mixed in. "However though, I do wish to fight you."

"You do, eh? That's a surprise." Marie sharply remarked.

Chuckling darkly, Jesse nodded and replied in his mixed voice "I wish to possess the power you have Marie, and to do that, I need to take control of you. Your power even exceeds Illidan's, meaning you'll make a perfect vessel."

"I've heard that before. If you want my body, then you'll have to beat me in a duel, but I have a set of high stakes for you." Marie smartly said. "If you win, you may possess me, but if I win, you will free Zane and Syrus, and release your control of Jesse."

Cocking an eyebrow, Jesse asked "And I should agree to that because?"

"You need me." Marie flatly said. "You said it yourself, my power is what you need, and I have a feeling that if you're going to beat the Fallen Angels, you're going to need all the power you can get. That's why you'll take up this bet. You can't afford not to."

Growling lowly, Jesse frowned heavily till finally he smirked. "Very well, I accept your terms. It is true, I need you far too much to let you escape once more, so we shall do things your way, this time. Once I win though, you will be mine forever."

"I understand the consequences of losing a duel with stakes this high." Marie remarked in a clipped tone. "Just make sure to pay up when you lose."

Sneering, Jesse smugly remarked "Such insolence. I'll enjoy destroying you."

"We'll see." Marie smartly replied while backing away till the two were separated by a small distance.

With the two separated, each pulled their decks out and began shuffling. Upon finishing, each placed them into their Duel Disks. Jesse's Duel Disk instantly came to life, with the three blades sliding out while Marie's pushed out and slid the single blade out. Drawing their first five cards, the two shouted out "Duel!"

"As a show of good faith, I'll let you lead off." Jesse calmly said.

Slightly smirking, Marie drew her new card and said "Why thank you! I'll begin by activating a field spell, Sanctuary of the Sky!"

Holding her Duel Disk vertical, Marie tapped it, causing a slot to shoot out. Slapping the card in her hand into the slot, the slot instantly closed and glowed to life. Instantly the scenery around the pair changed, with a blue sky appearing that had white fluffy clouds and a large ancient building forming behind Marie.

"With this field spell, whenever one of my Fairy Type monsters happens to lose a battle, I take zero Battle Damage. And next, I'll summon up my Shining Angel (1400/800)."

Materializing onto the field was a blonde haired man with bronzed skin, two large golden wings on his back, and a white tunic.

"I'll end with a face down. Now let's see what you can do." (Marie 8000, Jesse 8000)

Sneering, Jesse drew a card and smartly said "Careful what you ask for Marie. I'll kick things off with this, the spell Terraforming! This spell allows me to transfer a field spell from my deck to my hand."

Pulling his deck out and sifting through it, he smirked once more and selected the card and showed it to Marie. "The one I've picked is known as Advanced Dark. And now, I activate it, meaning your precious field spell is gone, while mine replaces it!"

Tapping the third blade on his Duel Disk, a new blade shot out with an empty slot. Setting the card into the slot, the blade sucked back into the third blade. Immediately, the ancient building behind Marie shattered, along with the blue sky, revealing the original terrain. Forming around Jesse a moment later was a blue circle with strange runic symbols on the outside of it. Spreading across the field, the circle surrounded both duelists completely while a small wall of blue flames rose from the circle's edge.

Glancing at the field spell, a gasp of surprise escaped Marie's mouth as her brow furrowed. "_It can't be. This field spell resembles the Seal of Orichalcos, but the Seal was destroyed almost ten years ago, so it can't be the same._"

Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Marie reopened them slowly. "_I can't let trivial things like that bother me. The Seal is gone, so I shouldn't worry so much about stupid things like that, especially since I have a hard road ahead of me without my field spell._"

"Something the matter?" Jesse's voice called out, making Marie stare at him.

Shaking her head, Marie softly replied "No, not at all. So, what does this little circle do?"

Sneering in response, Jesse smugly said "You'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger (1600/1000)."

Forming on the field immediately was a yellow round stone. After a moment, it glowed black and exploded, revealing a white tiger with black stripes, black fur on all four of it's feet, a black blade on it's tail, and a white horn jutting out of it's forehead. The tiger let out a low growl while glaring at the bronze skinned angel.

"Topaz, attack with Incisor Slash!"

Letting out a low growl, the tiger quickly began bounding across the field and suddenly leapt up into the air with it's paws stretched out and claws ready to strike.

"By the way Marie, when Topaz attacks, his special ability is triggered. He gains 400 attack points during my Battle Phase (1600 + 400 2000/1000)."

Cocking an eyebrow while smirking, Marie smugly replied "That maybe so, but I play a trap, one that will stop me from taking any damage! Go Spirit Barrier, which reduces all Battle Damage to zero so long as it was a battle between monsters."

Pouncing on the bronze skinned angel, the tiger smashed the creature, who let out a cry of pain before shattering. The tiger moved onwards towards Marie and attempted to slash her, but a golden barrier formed around her body, stopping the tiger from causing her any harm.

"That maybe so Marie, but you lost a monster nonetheless." Jesse pointed out.

Chuckling lightly, Marie nodded and replied "True, but his special ability was just triggered! Whenever Shining Angel goes to my Graveyard, I get to special summon a new Light Attribute monster from my deck to the field, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling her deck out, she fanned it out till she finally found the card she was looking for. She quickly slapped the card to her Duel Disk and said "I choose this, my second Shining Angel (1400/800)!"

Rising onto the field was a new bronzed skin angel with golden wings and wearing a white tunic.

Replacing her deck, Marie smartly asked "Are you finished?"

"That weakling won't slow me down for long. I set a card and end." (Marie 8000, Jesse 8000)

Drawing her new card, Marie examined it for a moment before slapping it onto her Duel Disk, saying "I sacrifice Shining Angel for Airknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

Instantly, the blonde haired angel vanished in a glow of golden light, only to be replaced by a new half angel, half horse creature. The angel half wore blue and gold armor, and had wings draping across it's body in different places. In his right hand was a sword, while his left held a shield. The horse half was white, and had wings on it's back.

"Airknight, go cut his kitty down with Angel Slash!"

Racing forward across the field, the half horse, half angel drew his sword up and slashed the white tiger across the chest. The tiger instantly roared out in pain and shattered, causing a cloud of smoke to fill the field.

"Whenever Topaz Tiger is destroyed in battle, he's placed into my Spell/Trap Zone as a continuous spell card." Jesse declared while the smoke cleared and revealed a yellow crystal before him.

Eyeing Jesse's life points, Marie gasped and asked "Why didn't your life points change? You should have lost some."

"True, but thanks to my Advanced Dark card, I can send an Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck to my Grave to negate the Battle Damage I'd take when an Advanced Crystal Beast is destroyed in battle." Jesse explained while pulling his deck out. Sifting through it for a moment, he finally found the card he wanted and shuffled his deck and replaced it. Showing the card, he calmly said "I send Advanced Crystal Beast Emerald Turtle (600/2000) to the Graveyard."

Slightly growling, Marie glared at the crystal on his field. "_Great, with that field spell, he's negated Airknight's ability to allow me to draw a card._"

Glancing at her hand, Marie selected a card from it and placed it into a Spell/Trap Slot, and proceeded to huff out "I end." (Marie 8000, Jesse 8000)

"Good, then my move!" Jesse declared while drawing his card. Turning the card towards Marie, he said "I activate the spell E-Force, allowing me to special summon a crystal back to my field, so rise up once more Topaz Tiger (1600/1000)!"

Glowing with a dark aura, the yellow crystal shattered and reformed into the white tiger with black stripes.

"But I'm not done, for I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field was a round amber colored stone with a dark aura surrounding it. A moment later, the aura flared to life and the stone shattered, revealing a large dark grey mammoth with white tusks, an amber round stone on it's forehead, and a white mane.

"Topaz, crush her angel with Incisor Slash!"

Letting out a roar, the white tiger bound across the field and leapt up into the air. Coming down fast, the tiger sank it's claws into the half angel, half horse creature, destroying it instantly.

Shielding herself from the small explosion, Marie smartly said "Don't forget, my trap negates the Battle Damage."

"Maybe so, but what's shielding you from Amber Mammoth? Allow me to answer that: NOTHING!" Jesse declared. "Direct attack her Amber Mammoth!"

Charging forward, the mammoth creature let out a bugle like sound and slammed a large foot into Marie, making her cry out in pain.

"I think that's enough punishment for now. I end my turn." (Marie 6300, Jesse 8000)


	35. Chapter 34: Bargains, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! Well, not much has really happened this week. Let's see, it's rained, thankfully. It was really dry due that it hasn't rained for a few weeks, thus the ground was really turning brown and dusty. Now that it's rained, things have gotten back to normal, which I'm glad for. Other than that, not much happening in life, so I'll move along.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along, although they're progressing slowly. Not to worry, things will work out, but I just wish I had more time to write. Between working on this story and **_**Another**_**, it's just hard to find time to get one or the other done. But no worries, it'll happen, so hang in there everyone.**

**There are no reviews since no one posted any, so I guess at that, I'm done. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 34**

Clenching her right fist tightly, Marie glared at Jesse. Flicking a glance to her deck, she eyed it for a moment and finally drew her card. Looking at the new card, she softly smirked. "Check this out, I summon a new monster that no one has seen from my deck yet. Let's give a warm welcome to Dimensional Alchemist (1300/200)."

Slowly materializing onto the field before Marie was a silver armored man in full body armor, with a purple loin cloth on his hips, a purple cape hanging off his shoulders, metal feather like shoulder pads, golden gloves, and an open faced helmet with the visor open.

"Thanks to this monster, I can remove from play the top card on my deck and increase his attack points by 500. I'll do just that now, so here goes (1300 + 500 1800/200)."

Picking up the top card on her deck, Marie placed it directly into her removed from play slot and watched while her monster glowed with a violet aura.

"Take his tiger down a notch now Dimensional Alchemist with Alchemist Burst!"

Holding his hands out before his body, the armored warrior created a sphere of violet and pink colored energy. In a thrusting motion, the warrior flung the sphere straight at the weaker white tiger.

Sneering, Jesse pointed at the oncoming attack and said "Not quite! I activate Amber Mammoth's special ability. When one of my Advanced Crystal Beasts is being attacked, I can redirect the attack towards him instead."

Stepping before the white tiger, the dark gray mammoth took the oncoming sphere of energy head on, making it wail out loud upon impact. After a moment, the blast exploded, taking the mammoth out with it and leaving smoke behind.

"And let's not forget, Amber Mammoth returns as a crystal in my Spell/Trap Zone, plus I use Advanced Dark to negate the damage by sending Advanced Crystal Beast Amethyst Cat (1200/400) to my Grave."

Pulling his deck out, Jesse wordlessly searched through it till he found the right card, and then placed it into his Graveyard Slot. Materializing before him instantly was a rough cut amber colored crystal.

Lightly growling, Marie grunted out "I end my turn (1800 – 500 1300/200)." (Marie 6300, Jesse 8000)

Smirking while drawing, Jesse smugly asked "Marie, haven't you realized you can't beat my Advanced Crystal Beasts yet?"

"I refuse to believe they can't be beaten." Marie angrily spat back.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse smugly replied "Believe what you wish, but I'll prove it. Now then, I begin by summoning Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus (1800/1200) to the field."

Rising up onto the field instantly was a sapphire colored round crystal. The crystal glowed with a black aura for a moment before shattering, revealing a white horse with a black aura surrounding it's body, white wings with orange feathers that had a sapphire colored crystal embedded into each wing, a black horn on it's forehead, and black wrapped near the top of it's hoofs and on the beginning of it's tail.

"With Pegasus out now, I can take an Advanced Crystal Beast from my deck and place it into my Spell/Trap Card Zone."

Pulling his deck out, Jesse slowly searched through it for a moment before selecting a card. A smirk formed on his face as he shuffled his deck back up and replaced it in it's slot. Taking the card he had pulled out, he slid it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots, causing a ruby colored crystal to form before him.

"I just played Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle (300/300), and now, Ruby's effect takes hold, allowing me to special summon each and every Advanced Crystal Beast from my Spell/Trap Slots to the field. So rise up once more Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle and Amber Mammoth (1700/1600)!"

The ruby and amber colored crystals each suddenly glowed with a black aura for a moment before shattering. From the ruby colored crystal, a small blue creature with four pointed ears, ruby colored eyes, a small cat like body, a black collar around it's neck, and a tail with a sphere of ruby on it's tail appeared. Beside of it, the large dark gray mammoth from earlier in the duel reappeared.

"It's time I crushed that weakling of yours. Topaz Tiger, I leave it to you (1600 + 400 2000/1000)!"

Rushing across the field, the white tiger leapt into the air and came crashing down upon the armored warrior. With a swipe of it's claws, the tiger cut through the warrior's armor, making the warrior cry out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

Slightly grunting out indignantly, Marie snapped out "You may have taken out my Alchemist, but it's effect kicks in. I'm allowed to return a removed from play card to my hand, so I'll pick the one I sent away when I attacked last turn. Not to mention, Spirit Barrier reduced the Battle Damage to zero."

While Marie pulled the card out of her removed from play slot, Jesse darkly chuckled and replied "That maybe true, but now you have no defense. Bring her down a few pegs Sapphire Pegasus, Amber Mammoth, and Ruby Carbuncle. Direct attack with Sapphire Dark Horn, Tusk Strike, and Ruby Blast!"

Taking flight into the air, the white winged horse let out a whinny and pointed it's horn at directly at Marie. Dark energy built up into the horn till finally a beam of black energy was fired and struck Marie hard, making her grunt out in pain. A moment later, a loud trumpet charge sounded from the dark gray mammoth creature as it charged her. With full force, the mammoth slammed into Marie with it's tusks, sending her flying five feet backwards onto the ground hard with a scream from the pain. Painfully, Marie stood and glared defiantly at Jesse as the small cat like creature leapt into the air and fired a beam of red energy at Marie, making her once more cry out in pain.

"I think that's enough punishment. I end my move for now." (Marie 2500, Jesse 8000)

Clenching her right hand tightly, Marie glared at Jesse across the field. "_Damn, he's stronger than I thought. And with Yubel pulling the strings, it'll only get tougher to beat him. But I'm far from done, I know it!_

"My draw!" Marie declared while picking up a card. Showing it to Jesse, she said "I activate Graceful Charity. This spell let's me pick up three more cards, but I then need to toss out two."

Grabbing three new cards, she examined the three with the three in her hand already. Picking two, she smirked and placed them into her Graveyard Slot. "I'll toss these two out and then I'll remove from play two Light Attribute monsters. The two I choose are Guardian Angel Joan and Shining Angel."

Holding her hand over her Graveyard Slot, Marie patiently waited as the two cards slowly slid out. Picking them up, she placed them into her removed from play slot and then slapped a monster card to her Duel Disk. "With that done, I can special summon this, my Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1600)!"

An angel like female monster with blonde hair and blue eyes then appeared on the field in a flash of light. She appeared translucent, but was somewhat solid as well. She had powerful looking white wings attached to her back and slightly spread them as she touched down onto the field.

"Next, I summon Majestic Mech – Ohka (2400/1400) to my field!"

A lion like creature made up of red and pink energy with powerful energy wings then roared onto the field. It's tail was made like a pink blade, and a majority of it's body glowed brightly.

Frowning, Jesse asked "How did you summon a level six monster without a sacrifice?"

"Really simple." Marie matter of factly replied. "I can summon Ohka without a sacrifice, but it goes to my Graveyard on the end of my turn. And in the meantime, it's time to repay you for last turn. Soul of Purity and Light, attack Amber Mammoth with Shining Wing Blast!"

Spreading it's wings, the female angel pushed her hands out as a sphere of glowing white energy began forming before her body. Focusing on her target, the angel flung the sphere of energy straight at the weaker gray mammoth, which made no move to avoid the attack. The blast struck the mammoth head on, which let out a trumpeting sound upon being struck and exploding, causing smoke to coat the field.

"You're wasting your energy. The Advanced Dark field spell effect activates." Jesse declared. Pulling his deck out, he sifted through it till he found a certain card and placed it into his Graveyard Slot and smartly said "From my deck, I send Advanced Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) to the Graveyard."

The smoke slowly cleared, revealing a missing mammoth while an amber colored crystal formed before Jesse. "That all you got?" he smartly questioned.

"Not quite, because now you're out of Crystal Beasts, meaning you can't block me." Marie smugly stated. Pointing at the white horse, Marie called out "Crush his Sapphire Pegasus now Fairy Mech Flame!"

Roaring loudly, the lion like creature fired a stream of pink flames straight for the white horse, which whinnied upon being struck and exploding. With the smoke clearing, a sapphire colored crystal was visibly before Jesse, but his life points had fell somewhat.

"And now, I activate the quick play spell Tyrant's Rise! By sacrificing two monsters on my field, I can special summon Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) from my deck, hand, or Graveyard. At this moment, he happens to be in my deck, but he's about to make his grand entrance!"

Pulling her deck out, Marie searched through it till she found the card she wanted and then slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "Rise up Tyrant Dragon!"

Vanishing from the field at the same time were the lion like creature and the translucent like angel. Taking their place a moment later was a large dark orange dragon, with massive wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around it's face, and a strong tail.

"And now, it's your turn to have some fun old friend! Blast that Tiger with Tyrant Flame!"

Letting out a massive roar, the dark orange dragon fired a stream of flames straight at the weaker white tiger. The tiger howled in pain when the flames struck it, causing a massive explosion to ensue while Jesse cried out from the pain of the remaining flames hitting him. The explosion soon cleared out, revealing a slightly panting Jesse with a topaz colored crystal forming before him.

"That it!?" Jesse angrily questioned.

Smirking, Marie shook her head and replied "Not at all! Tyrant Dragon's special ability allows him to attack again if you have another monster on the field after his first attack. Crush his Ruby Carbuncle with Tyrant Flame!"

Roaring loudly once more, the dark orange dragon opened it's jaws again and shot a stream of searing hot flames at the weaker blue cat creature. The small creature let out a shrill cry upon being struck, causing a huge explosion. Jesse's screaming could be heard as well in the background while smoke billowed across the field. Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing Jesse on one knee while a ruby colored crystal formed before him.

"And I'm not done yet! I reveal the trap Miraculous Descent! Thanks to this, I can special summon a removed from play Fairy Type monster to the field and equip it with this card. So return now Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!"

A golden glow formed on the field next to the orange dragon instantly. Appearing out of the glow a moment later was a female angel with pink satin skin, who wore a white dress that showed her many curves and golden wings.

"Joan, direct attack with Golden Wing Burst!"

The pink skinned angel's wings instantly began to glow a bright golden color as energy began building within them. Bolts of energy instantly began pouring off of the wings and into a sphere in front of the pink skinned angel. Slowly, the golden sphere formed and began to glow brightly. Pushing her hands behind the sphere, the angel gave a shove, sending it hurtling towards the Jesse.

The blast from the angel slammed into the ground right before Jesse, causing a large explosion with smoke covering the area. Slowly, the smoke dissipated, revealing an unharmed Jesse with a face up card next to one of his crystals.

"Nice try Marie, but I just activated my trap. It's known as Rainbow Path, which has me sacrifice one of my crystals in order to negate an attack. Plus, I get to transfer a certain card from my deck to my hand." Jesse smugly remarked.

Watching Jesse pull his deck out and search for a card, Marie slightly sighed and mumbled "I should have known you had a backup plan. Oh well, it can't be helped. I set this card and end my turn." (Marie 2500, Jesse 3500)

Drawing a new card, Jesse darkly chuckled and calmly said "That move of yours wasn't bad Marie, but it'll take more than that to defeat me."

"I know that." Marie impatiently snapped back.

"Strike a nerve?" Jesse asked with a smirk. "Not that it matters. Now then, when there are a total of seven Advanced Crystal Beasts either on my field or in my Graveyard, I get summon my Rainbow Dark Dragon (4000/0) to the field in attack mode!"

Glowing with a rainbow coloring, Jesse's Duel Disk's Graveyard shot out four beams of twisted light. The three crystals on his field responded instantly and did the same. The seven beams twisted together in the air and collided together. A blinding rainbow aura flared up, making Marie cover her face for a moment. After a moment, the aura died down, revealing a large black scaled dragon that had a long snake like body, huge black feather wings on the top part, a sharp spike sticking out the top of it's head and off the back of it's head, a pair of wings off the sides of it's head, and golden like pronged wings that didn't move. On the sides of the top part of the dragon were seven jewels, on for each color of the other creatures.

Gasping in shock, Marie took a step backwards, but suddenly felt the voice of her Duel Spirit calling to her, asking "_Are you afraid of that dragon Marie? After all we've faced, you surely aren't._"

Glancing at the large orange dragon, Marie took a deep breath and returned to where she had stood. Mentally, she replied "_You're right, I shouldn't fear that thing. I've faced Egyptian Gods, so why be fearful of that snake._"

Sneering at Marie's calm returning, Jesse pointed at her and said "I wouldn't be so calm, because you're about to lose some major life points. Dark Dragon, attack her angel with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring loudly, the large black dragon raised it's head and opened it's jaws. A halo of rainbow energy formed before it's mouth and slowly vanished as a beam of rainbow colored energy went racing straight at the pink skinned angel.

"You didn't think I'd leave my Joan out without some kind of defense, did you?" Marie questioned with a taunt. "I activate my trap, Draining Shield! This negates your attack and adds your dragon's attack points to my life points!"

Forming before the pink angel instantly was a golden barrier. The rainbow blast struck the barrier hard for a few moments before finally the dragon finished attacking. At that moment, the golden barrier sent a stream of golden energy straight to Marie's Duel Disk, causing her life point counter to rise drastically.

Growling lowly, Jesse harshly replied "I place a face down to end." (Marie 6500, Jesse 3500)

Wordlessly drawing her card, Marie glanced at it and smirked. Showing it to Jesse, she said "I activate Pot of Greed! This spell let's me pick up two more cards from my deck."

Drawing two cards, she smirked and turned both towards Jesse. "I activate two spell cards, the first being this one, my equip spell known as Mist Body. I'll explain it later, but for now, all you should know is I'm equipping it to my Tyrant Dragon. Next, the second spell I'm playing is another equip spell known called Heavenly Bow, which equips to my Guardian Angel Joan. It's effect now kicks in, cutting Joan's attack points in half (2800 / 2 1400/2000)."

Appearing before the pink skinned angel instantly was a golden bow. Reaching out, the angel took hold of it and pulled back the bow string. In it, a glowing golden energy arrow formed.

"Wait, you're weakening your monster? What kind of plan is that!?" Jesse anxiously asked.

"A great one since Joan can now bypass your monsters and direct attack you!" Marie declared with a wink. "Joan, go hit him with Heavenly Shot!"

Pulling back the arrow further, the pink angel fired the golden energy arrow straight at Jesse, who growled at the oncoming shot.

"I'm not about to take any damage! I activate the trap Rainbow Life! To play it, I must discard a card, which I do." Jesse called out as the arrow struck him in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain. Instead of his life points dropping, they shot upwards.

"Wait, what?" Marie asked in shock. "What happened just now!?"

Darkly chuckling, Jesse smartly replied "Whenever Rainbow Life is activated, all the Battle Damage I'd have taken this turn is added to my life points instead."

Clenching her fist tightly, Marie lowly growled and grunted out "I end." (Marie 6500, Jesse 4900)

"Very well, if that's all you got, then watch this." Jesse declared while drawing a card. "Attack her Joan with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws and fired a beam of rainbow colored energy straight at the pink angel. The blast hit the angel head on, causing a large explosion to ensue. Smoke poured over the field, hiding Marie and her dragon, but it soon cleared, revealing the pink skinned angel still before her, minus her bow.

"What!? Why is that creature still here!?" Jesse bellowed.

Giggling innocently, Marie held up a card and smartly said "Whenever Joan is equipped with Heavenly Bow and she is attacked, instead of her being destroyed, Heavenly Bow goes to the Graveyard. That means that Joan's strength returns also (2800/2000)."

Grinding his teeth, Jesse harshly fired back "Your persistence is annoying me! You're only delaying the inevitable!"

"I don't think so. I'm just prolonging your loss." Marie taunted.

Clenching his right fist tightly, Jesse grabbed a card from his hand and jammed it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots. "Just go!" (Marie 6500, Jesse 4900)

Slowly drawing, Marie examined her new card. "I summon this, The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700) in defense."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a green skinned angel with green feathered wings, and strange tattoos on it's shoulders and forehead. The angel wore a blue tunic with white pants, golden wrist bands, golden bands on it's forearms, and held a golden book in it's left hand. Stretching it's wings out, the angel took up a kneeling defense with it's right arm protecting it's body.

"I'll call it a turn now." (Marie 6500, Jesse 4900)

"Good! I draw!" Jesse declared while picking up a card. Examining it, he pointed at his face down card, which rose up quickly to reveal it was a trap. "It's time I got rid of that overgrown lizard of yours. I activate Crystal Raigeki, which has me sacrifice a crystal in order to destroy one card on your field. I'll target your pathetic Tyrant Dragon!"

Vanishing in a flash was the amber colored crystal while the trap card glowed with a dark amber glow. Without warning, an amber colored beam raced across the field and prepared to slam into the dark orange dragon. With only a few feet separating the two, the dark orange dragon roared loudly, dispersing the beam.

"WHAT!?" Jesse howled.

Giggling lightly, Marie coyly said "My dragon has a special ability I forgot to mention. It can't be targeted by traps that directly target it. Sorry, but if you want to destroy my Tyrant Dragon, you'll have to find another way."

"Fine, Rainbow Dark Dragon, crush that dragon! Dark Rainbow Refraction!" Jesse commanded.

Letting out a roar in response, the large dark dragon raised it's head and opened it's jaws. A rainbow halo appeared before the dragon's mouth, but quickly vanished and was replaced by a beam of rainbow energy being fired at the dark orange dragon. The beam struck the dark orange dragon head on, causing a large explosion.

"So much for that thing!" Jesse confidently declared.

Slowly, the explosion vanished, revealing the dark orange dragon was still standing in the same spot it had been in.

"WHAT IS THIS!? WHY DID THAT DRAGON SURVIVE!?" Jesse bellowed angrily.

"Don't you remember the equip spell I played earlier to my dragon?" Marie questioned with a smirk. "I had Mist Body equipped to my dragon, which allows him to survive any battle. I normally take the Battle Damage, but thanks to my Spirit Barrier, I took zero."

"YOU ANNOYING WENCH, HOW DARE YOU!" Yubel's voice declared through Jesse. "I END!" (Marie 6500, Jesse 4900)

Picking up a new card, Marie smirked and said "Since my Mercury was on the field last turn, it's effect kicked in during your End Phase. When I have no cards in my hand, it allows me to draw an extra card during my Standby Phase."

Grabbing another card, Marie examined the two in her hand. "I'll set a monster and then place one face down card. That's it for me." (Marie 6500, Jesse 3900)

"About time wench!" Jesse harshly remarked while drawing a card. "Dragon, crush Marie's pathetic Mercury!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon fired a stream of rainbow colored energy straight at the green skinned angel. Without warning, a horizontal card moved before the angel, making Jesse gasp in shock.

"What's going on here!?" Jesse's voice demanded with Yubel's mixed in.

Pointing at her now revealed card, Marie calmly replied "I activated my trap, Shift. I redirected your attack from Mercury to my face down card, which is now revealed as Marshmallon (300/500)!"

The horizontal card image instantly vanished, revealing a pink pair shaped like creature with an upside down face. It had two eyes, a smile, and two rosy cheeks. The blast struck the creature, causing a small explosion. The smoke soon cleared, revealing the creature still smiling. Without warning, it raced across the field and opened it's mouth, revealing sharp teeth. It sank them into Jesse's leg, making him scream out in pain and shake the creature off. The small creature instantly returned to Marie's field and smirked at it's actions.

"What did that thing just do!?" Jesse furiously questioned.

Slightly giggling, Marie replied "It just took a bite out of your life points. Whenever it is attacked while in face down defense, it deals the person who attacked it 1000 points of direct damage. Next, it's effect keeps it from being destroyed in battle."

Clenching his fist tightly till small drops of blood dripped from it, Jesse screamed out in Yubel's voice "YOU WILL NOT MAKE A FOOL OF ME! I END!" (Marie 6500, Jesse 3900)

"It's not hard to do what you do already." Marie taunted while drawing her card. "And since I held no cards in your End Phase, I get another thanks to Mercury."

Hearing Jesse growl while she drew another card, Marie ignored it and examined the card. "I set a face down and summon Nurse Reficule the Fallen One (1400/600) in defense."

Materializing onto the field in a defensive stance was a female creature with purple hair that fell below her shoulders, but on the ends of her hair were sharp blades. On her back was a pair of wings that were a sickly green color with red spines and silver metal blades on the spines. Her entire body, with exception of some skin on her face was covered in white bandages. Only her right eye and part of her cheek and mouth were uncovered, revealing cream colored skin.

"And they say my form is ugly." Yubel's feminine voice spoke up.

Smirking at the comment, Marie replied "This card may not have the looks that my other fairies have, but she's more than meets the eye. In the meantime I'll call it a turn." (Marie 6500, Jesse 3900)

Watching Jesse draw a card, Marie grinned like a Cheshire cat and called out "Hold on there Jesse! I'm about to lend you a hand. I activate the trap Gift Card!"

"What is that!?" Jesse asked with agitation.

Lightly giggling, Marie replied "It's a rather simple trap. It grants you 3000 additional life points."

"Wait, you're giving me points!?" Jesse asked in confusion.

Nodding, Marie smiled and said "Sure am. You get all 3000… Or should I say you would if not for Nurse Reficule."

Without warning, the bandage wrapped fairy began glowing with a dark red aura and smirked evilly at Jesse.

"With Reficule on my field, whenever you would gain life points, you instead lose life points. Looks like that gift I gave you was actually a bomb."

Gasping in surprise, Jesse had no time to prepare as the bandage wrapped fairy suddenly shot a beam of dark red energy at him, making him howl out in pain and fall to one knee. Grinding his teeth together, Jesse stood back up while a purple aura flared out of his body.

"WHY YOU WENCH, HOW DARE YOU MOCK ME! I'LL CRUSH YOU!" Yubel's feminine voice screamed loudly. "DARK DRAGON, CRUSH THAT CREATURE WITH DARK RAINBOW REFRACTION!"

Letting out a loud roar in response, the black dragon fired a beam of rainbow colored energy straight at the bandage covered fairy. The blast tore through the fairy easily, leaving a small explosion in it's wake. A moment later, the smoke cleared, revealing an empty crater where the fairy once was.

Jamming two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots, Jesse growled out "GO!" (Marie 6500, Jesse 900)

Picking up a new card, Marie calmly said "Don't forget, due to Mercury, I draw another card."

Once more drawing a card, Marie placed both into her left hand and examined them. After making a decision, she nodded to herself and showed one of her cards. "I activate this spell, Gift of the Martyr! This lets me sacrifice one of my monsters and add it's attack points to another of my monsters for this turn alone. I'll sacrifice Joan and add it's strength to Tyrant Dragon (2900 + 2800 5700/2500)!"

Glancing at the dark orange dragon, the pink angel nodded to it. Letting out a small growl of acknowledgment, the dragon watched as the pink angel transformed into golden light particles. After a moment, the particles went swirling around the dark orange dragon, which let out a loud howl as it's strength rose.

"Tyrant Dragon, let's finish off his dragon with Tyrant Flame!"

Roaring loudly, the dark orange dragon lifted it's head to aim for the black dragon. Opening it's jaws, flames went pouring out in a stream straight for the black dragon, which watched on.

"Not a bad plan Marie, but it won't work." Jesse declared. "I activate Rainbow Dark Dragon's special ability. By sacrificing my two remaining crystals, his strength rises by a 1000 per each (4000 + 1000 2 6000/0). Now crush her dragon!"

Marie only gasped in shock as the two remaining crystals vanished in a beam of light each while the black dragon roared due to it's increase in strength. Opening it's jaws, the dragon spat a rainbow colored beam back at the incoming flames, which ground against one another for a moment before the rainbow energy flew backwards and struck the dark orange dragon, causing smoke to fill the air from the impact. The smoke soon cleared, revealing an unharmed dark orange dragon.

"Don't forget, thanks to Mist Body, Tyrant Dragon was unharmed, not to mention, my Spirit Barrier reduced the Battle Damage to zero." Marie chided. "I'll set this face down card and that's it." (Marie 6500, Jesse 900)

Grabbing a card, Jesse declared "Good, because I'm about to crush you this turn. I first play my trap, Dust Tornado! This allows me to destroy one of your spell/trap cards. I'll crush your Spirit Barrier!"

Marie didn't even have a chance to gasp in shock when suddenly a brown tornado formed before her trap card. The tornado swallowed the trap instantly, shattering it into millions of pieces.

"Great…" she muttered.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse pointed at his other face down card, causing it to rise. "And now, I activate my trap, Chaotic Rainbow Blast! This trap can only be activated when I have all seven of my Crystal Beasts in my Graveyard, plus if Rainbow Dark Dragon is out. If all of those requirements are fulfilled, my dragon can direct attack you!"

"NO WAY!" Marie yelled in shock.

"Yes way! Go Rainbow Dark Dragon, crush her with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws, causing a rainbow halo to appear before it's mouth. Without a second thought, the dragon fired a rainbow colored beam straight at Marie. The blast hit her square on, making her scream out in pain while a huge explosion ensued.

The explosion slowly subsided, revealing Marie standing on shaky legs. She was panting heavily and wobbling. Without warning, she fell forward onto her knees and then onto her face, sending a small cloud of dust up from the impact.

"Looks like you're finished." Jesse smugly remarked. "How pathetic, you didn't last long at all."

Laying on the ground, Marie heard a voice crying out in her mind. She instantly recognized it as her Duel Spirit. "_Marie! Marie, are you alright!? Answer me!_"

Weakly, she replied "_I'm fine._"

"_Thank goodness._" the dragon growled out in relief.

Slowly moving her body so that she was back up onto her hands and knees, Marie gradually began standing. Sneering at her figure standing back up, Yubel's voice tauntingly asked "Why bother getting up? You're obviously finished."

"I won't quit." Marie remarked in a raspy voice while her head was still hung. "My friends are counting on me."

"Your friends are all gone Marie. Zane fell at my hands, much like Syrus and Jesse. You won't be able to save any of them." Yubel smugly said.

Raising her head, Marie glared at Jesse and retorted heatedly "They're counting on me, and I won't let them down, no matter what the cost!"

Shrugging, Jesse replied in Yubel's voice with "I guess I'll just have to put you out of your misery soon enough. Now then, I activate the spell Crystal Blessing, allowing me to take two Advanced Crystal Beasts from my Grave and place them back into my Spell/Trap Card Zone. I pick Cobalt Eagle (1400/800) and Emerald Turtle (600/2000)."

Glowing to life, Jesse's Graveyard Slot pushed two cards out into his awaiting hand. Once in hand, he slid them into two of his Spell/Trap Slots and smirked as a green and blue crystal formed before him.

"I think that's enough punishment for this turn." (Marie 500, Jesse 900)


	36. Chapter 35: Bargains, Pt 3

**Hey everyone! Well, this past week and this week has been action packed, lol. This past weekend on Saturday, I spent the day helping my dad out on his farm, which was tiring, but not bad. Sunday, I got to see my grandfather, who was doing pretty well. Then this week, all hell broke loose. Work has been a bit busy, plus helping my dad out in the evenings with farm work is just a killer. At least we're done on the farm for a while since it's due to rain this weekend, plus we tore up our bailer, hehe. Other than that, life is just busy like always.**

**Writing wise, I'm trying hard to find time to work on both of my stories, but like always, it is difficult. I've yet to find enough time to really make too much progress as of late, but I am still finding a little time here and there. It's just difficult to find a large amount of time to do so.**

**At any rate, time for reviews!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Yep, I enjoyed my stay at the beach. I wish it was longer, but at the same time I'm happy to be home too. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Heh, true, that card that Jesse used to direct attack Marie should have probably done more, but I figured a direct attack with Rainbow Dark Dragon was already pushing it. True, he could have pounded on her some more had he used Crystal Blessings prior, but oh well. I semi-forgot actually that I played it after his attack, lol. She may comeback, or fall to Jesse. Glad you liked the update. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. I'll try and start posting stats at the beginning of a duel from now on. Unfortunately, this chapter, I won't begin it, but the next ones I will. But true, it is hard to figure out what everyone has. I write those stats down while writing the duels, but I just get rid of it when I'm done sadly, so I'll just stop getting rid of it. Yes, it sucks about them stopping at episode 155. I mean, come on, it's one freaking episode till the end of the season! It's not like it would have killed them to do it and then ready themselves to butcher season 4! I can't wait to see how bad it goes in English, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate it. Anyways, it's time I wrap this up. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 35**

Starting to draw a card, Marie felt her hand shaking. Closing her eyes due that she felt a grimace of pain flashing through her body, she pushed the pain to the back of her mind. "_No way am I quitting now. Zane and Syrus are counting on me, much like Jesse. I have to keep going, no matter what it takes!_"

Snapping her eyes open, she quickly drew a card and said "Thanks to Mercury, I once more draw!"

Grabbing another card, she examined the two for a moment. Placing one into a Spell/Trap Slot, she calmly said "I set this card and activate the spell Card of Demise! This allows me to draw till I hold five cards in my hand. Of course, in five of my Standby Phases, I must discard my entire hand, but I plan on winning by then."

Snapping off five new cards, Marie examined them before saying "In the meantime, I'm summoning White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) in defense."

Appearing onto the field in a small flash of light was a pink haired child that had twin ponytails sticking out from a golden goat like helmet with two horns on the side, green eyes, and wearing a white set of robes with intricate pink embroidered into it with a golden cape on her shoulders. In her small hands was a short cane like staff that had a glowing sphere on the end of it.

"Why bother summoning that weakling?" Jesse questioned with obvious irritation.

Lightly chuckling, Marie smartly replied "So I can play this equip spell, United We Stand, and I'll use it on my Tyrant Dragon. This raises his points by 800 per a monster on my field. With four monsters out, that's a grand total of 3200 bonus points (2900 + 800 4 6100/2500 + 800 4 5700)!"

Roaring loudly, the dark orange dragon stretched out it's wings while it's strength increased greatly and a golden aura surrounded it.

Eyes widening, Jesse growled out "That thing has more points than my dragon!"

"That's the point!" Marie declared. "Tyrant Dragon, take out his Rainbow Dark Dragon with Tyrant Flame!"

Letting out another ferocious roar, the dark orange dragon spread out it's wings and shot a stream of searing hot flames straight at the black dragon, which let out a small screech of fear.

"You're a fool Marie!" Jesse declared. "Did you forget about Rainbow Dark Dragon's special ability? I guess so, because I play his effect and sacrifice both of my crystals to him, raising his attack points by 2000 (6000 + 1000 2 8000/0)!"

Glowing to life, both the green and blue crystal became beams of light and shot into Jesse's Graveyard. Instantly, the black dragon roared loudly as it's body glowed with a rainbow aura.

"Destroy her now!"

Opening it's jaws, the large black dragon fired a beam of rainbow energy straight at the stream of flames. The two met in the middle of the field, with the rainbow energy pushing the flames backwards towards the dark orange dragon.

"Game over Marie!" Jesse declared with maniacal laughter.

Pulling a card quickly from her hand and placing it into her Graveyard Slot, Marie cried out "Not so fast, I activate my trap Hallowed Life Barrier! By discarding a card, I can reduce all the damage I was about to receive to zero!"

Immediately, a barrier of blue energy surrounded Marie, protecting her from the rainbow energy that slammed into the dark orange dragon and spilled over towards her.

Growling lightly, Jesse gruffly said "Fine, but you're finished next turn."

"Not likely." Marie scoffed. "I end my turn." (Marie 500, Jesse 900)

"If that's the best you can do, maybe I should put you out of your misery." Jesse smugly remarked while drawing a card. "Rainbow Dark Dragon, crush her Tyrant Dragon with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Opening it's jaws instantly, the black dragon formed a halo before it's mouth before a beam of rainbow colored energy went racing forward towards the dark orange dragon.

"Not happening, because I reveal my face down spells, Transcendent Wings and The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh!" Marie cried out. "First, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh special summons my Winged Kuriboh (300/200) from my deck!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a small brown fur ball creature with white wings on it's back, two green clawed hands and feet, with large purple eyes.

"What was the point of that?" Jesse questioned.

Smirking, Marie called out "You're about to find out! Thanks to Transcendent Wings, I can send two cards from my hand to the Grave and then special summon my Winged Kuriboh LV10 (300/200)!"

Upon placing her two cards into her Graveyard, Marie watched her small winged creature vanish in a flash of light. Replacing it a moment later was a blinding light. Coming out of the light was a large set of white wings, which was attached to a small golden dragon like armor. The creature wearing the golden armor was none other than the small brown haired creature, now with eyes of fierceness.

"Now by sacrificing Winged Kuriboh LV10, I can destroy your Rainbow Dark Dragon, plus deal you damage equal to your dragon's attack points. This duel is over for you Yubel!"

Darkly chuckling, Jesse's body began glowing with a purple aura as Yubel's smug voice calmly said "You are truly foolish Marie. It's futile for you to fight me. Watch this, while on the field, my Advanced Dark negates any monster effects that target my Rainbow Dark Dragon, meaning my attack continues on."

"NO WAY!" Marie declared in shock while her winged creature shattered.

The rainbow colored beam continued on and slammed into the dark orange dragon. A huge explosion ensued, sending dust and debris throughout the field.

Slowly, the smoke cleared, revealing the dark orange dragon was still standing, along with Marie who glared at Jesse.

Confused, Yubel's voice furiously asked "WHAT!? WHY DIDN'T YOU LOSE! THAT WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH TO CRUSH YOU!"

"You seemed to have forgotten something though, Yubel." Marie smugly remarked. "When Winged Kuriboh goes to the Graveyard, I take zero damage on the same turn."

"NO! YOU CHEAT!" Yubel snarled. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU WENCH!"

"Just try me." Marie smartly replied.

Gnashing his teeth, Jesse jammed a card into one of his Spell/Trap Slots and Yubel's voice snarled out "I end!" (Marie 500, Jesse 900)

Letting out a sigh, Marie closed her eyes and mumbled in her mind "_That was close._"

"_I'll say, maybe a little too close._"

Feeling the presence of the dark orange dragon in her mind, she felt herself opening her eyes and nodding to it within her mind. "_It was indeed. I never would have guessed his Advanced Dark card could save his dragon._"

"_Neither did I._" the dragon responded. "_Marie, you must be more careful. I would hate to think what Illidan would feel, say, or do should he lose you._"

Sadly smiling, she mentally nodded and replied "_Don't worry, I don't intend on losing. Still, right now things aren't looking good._"

"_We must find a way to take his dragon down._" the dragon advised. "_Once it's gone, I have a feeling Jesse will be defenseless._"

"_As do I, but getting rid of it is the trick. How is going to be a major problem seeing how I have nothing in my deck that can match it point for point. Even with United We Stand, you're still not strong enough to beat him. And without my life points being very high, even if I used Sanctuary of the Sky, it wouldn't matter at this point._"

Watching the dragon nod, she heard him say "_We will defeat that dragon, somehow. Just remain calm._"

"_Right._"

Opening her eyes, Marie glanced at her deck and quickly picked up a card. "Since Mercury is still out, I get a second card."

Snapping off another card, Marie took a look at it. Placing it into her left hand, she pointed at the pink haired creature and said "Thanks to Pikeru, during my Standby Phase, I gain 400 life points per a monster on my field. Right now, I have four, meaning I gain 1600 points."

Giggling lightly, the child like mage pointed at Marie and shot a beam of golden energy straight at her. The beam twisted around her body, seemingly easing off the tension while her life points climbed upwards.

"Next, I'll set two face down cards and call it a turn." (Marie 2100, Jesse 900)

Darkly chuckling, Jesse drew his card and smugly said "If playing a few face downs is the best you can do, then I'll just crush you! Rainbow Dark Dragon, trash that dragon!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black dragon opened it's jaws and fired a beam of rainbow energy straight for the dark orange dragon.

"Not quite Jesse, I play the spell Emergency Provisions, and chain a trap, Blast with Chain!" Marie declared. "Thanks to Blast with Chain, I can equip it to a monster and increase their attack points by 500. My choice is Pikeru (1200 + 500 1700/0). Next, I use Emergency Provisions to sacrifice Blast with Chain to the Graveyard in order to gain 1000 life points."

"That was pointless." Jesse growled out. "Why waste my time!?"

"Because I'm not finished!" Marie barked back. "Whenever I send Blast with Chain to the Grave, it's effect kicks in. It allows me to destroy one card on the field, and I'm choosing your Rainbow Dark Dragon!"

Gasping in surprise, Jesse watched in shock as a rocket with a chain attached to it went flying straight for his dragon. "I think not!" Jesse cried out while turning a hand to his face down card, causing it to rise up. "I play the trap Crystal Counter! This allows me to load my Spell/Trap Zones with Advanced Crystal Beasts."

Shooting out onto the field in a series of lights, five crystals appeared before Jesse. "Next, since you stopped my attack, I'll activate Rainbow Dark Dragon's special ability. By sending a crystal to the Grave, I can save my dragon from being destroyed."

"WHAT!?" Marie shouted in shock.

The rocket suddenly struck the black dragon, making it howl in pain. Instantly, a crystal before Jesse vanished, leaving only four behind. Smoke poured off of the dragon for a moment before it was revealed that it was unharmed by the rocket.

Darkly chuckling, Jesse smugly said "And now, I activate Rainbow Dark Dragon's second special ability, meaning all of my crystals go back to my Grave and my dragon gains 4000 more attack points (6000 + 1000 4 10000/0)!"

All four crystals instantly glowed brightly and flashed away as beams of light into Jesse's Graveyard Slot. With all of them gone, the large black dragon glowed with a rainbow colored aura.

"I set this face down and end my turn." (Marie 3100, Jesse 900)

"_Great, he managed to see right through that trap. Now what? I'm running out of ideas on how to stop that dragon, and sooner or later I'll be in his crosshairs. I need to find a way to beat him._" Marie growled within her mind.

Picking up a card, Marie glanced at it before picking up another card and saying "Thanks to Mercury, I get this extra card. And next, Pikeru grants me an additional 1600 life points."

"Big deal, build up your points all you want, it won't save you." Jesse declared with a smirk.

"We'll see." Marie smartly replied. "I set a card and summon Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) in defense (6100 + 800 6900/5700 + 800 6500)."

Materializing instantly onto the field was a set of three small fairies, each wearing a white dress each and a set of small wings on their backs. There was a red, a light brown, and a dark brown haired one.

"At that, I'll call it a turn." (Marie 4700, Jesse 900)

Smirking evilly while he drew a card, Jesse examined it and smartly said "Alright, if playing a weakling and a face down is the best you can do, maybe it's time I put you out of your misery. I reveal my face down spell, Raining Destruction! With this card, I must discard my entire hand and then send up to five cards from my deck to my Graveyard. I'll send five."

Taking the top five cards off of his deck, Jesse slid them into his Graveyard Slot, which eagerly sucked them down. "Next, Rainbow Dark Dragon now gets to attack all of your monsters, and each one it battles, that monster is removed from play and then you take 500 points of damage, plus you receive normal Battle Damage."

"That means…" Marie began in a bit of shock, only to be cut off by Jesse saying "That means when I attack, your dragon will get weaker each time, till finally it has no attack points left and I can eliminate you. Let's begin with my dragon crushing your pathetic tiny fairies!"

Roaring loudly, the large black dragon fired a beam of rainbow energy straight at the three small fairies. The beams cut through the three easily, shattering each of them.

"And now, you lose 500 life points!"

Glowing to life, the spell card shot a beam of rainbow energy straight at Marie, making her cry out in pain when it struck her.

"Crush all her other three monsters now Rainbow Dark Dragon!"

Letting out a massive roar, the black dragon released another beam of rainbow energy straight towards the three other monsters, seemingly ignoring the dark orange dragon. The blast grew in size after a moment and slammed into the ground before the three monsters. A large explosion ensued, shattering each of them. The spell card instantly glowed to life and shot out three beams straight at Marie, making her cry out in pain with each shot and fall to one knee at long last.

"Game over Marie. Your dragon has weakened, meaning the Battle Damage will wipe you out this turn (3700/3300). Destroy her dragon with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Roaring even louder than before, the black dragon opened it's jaws and fired a powerful beam of rainbow colored energy straight at the dark orange dragon, which let out a warning growl.

"I maybe down, but I'm not out!" Marie weakly called out while pointing at her face down card, which quickly rose up. "I play my trap, Soul Shield. By cutting my life points in half, I can negate your attack."

Materializing around the dark orange dragon instantly was a barrier of light blue energy. The rainbow beam slammed into it hard, making the barrier glow brightly as it repulsed the attack. After a moment of grinding against the barrier, the beam vanished, leaving the barrier behind.

Growling with irritation, Jesse grunted out "I end my turn. You can't escape me for much longer though." (Marie 1350, Jesse 900)

Still sitting on one knee panting lightly, Marie closed her eyes. "_This is bad, very bad. Every time I think I've made headway, he comes back with a powerful card and tramples all the work I've done into the ground._"

"_Keep digging Marie! You can't quit, no matter what!_" the dark dragon mentally declared.

Glancing at her deck, Marie slowly stood and fingered the top card. "_I need to draw something to stop Jesse. If I don't, I'll lose and the others will remain in the Shadows. I can't allow that to happen, and I can't allow Yubel to continue to control Jesse. I have to do whatever it takes to win this duel!_"

About to draw, Marie heard Jesse, with Yubel's voice mixed in call out "Don't you get it yet Marie? Your attacks are pointless! Every move you've made thus far hasn't succeeded, and no move you make will work either!"

Staring at the young man before her, Marie smirked and wistfully replied "We'll see. Now then, I draw."

Picking up a card, she eyed it warily for a moment before showing it to Jesse. "I play this spell, Equip Drawer. With it, I can send my two equip spells to the Graveyard and draw a card for each I send. I'm sending both, so I draw two cards (2900/2500)."

Placing both cards into her Graveyard Slot, Marie instantly picked up another two cards and eyed them carefully. "I set two cards and switch my Tyrant Dragon into defense. That's it." (Marie 1350, Jesse 900)

"Looks like you're getting desperate." Jesse smugly declared. Picking up a card, he pointed at the dark orange dragon and called out "Rainbow Dark Dragon, trash her Tyrant Dragon with Dark Rainbow Refraction!"

Rising up to fire a blast, the black dragon opened it's jaws, causing a rainbow colored halo to form before it's mouth.

"Not quite Jesse, I have a trap!" Marie declared. "I activate Zero Gravity, which switches the modes of all our monsters. Tyrant Dragon goes to attack mode, while yours goes to defense."

Rising up, the dark orange dragon unfurled it's wings while the black dragon struggled to remain up in the air while it's body was trying to furl it's wings.

Darkly laughing, Jesse called out in Yubel's voice, saying "That was your fatal mistake Marie. I activate the spell Rainbow Crush, which activates when Rainbow Dark Dragon is forced into defense mode. It sends my dragon back into attack mode and allows me to declare an attack!"

Marie could hardly suppress a gasp of shock as the black dragon stopped going into defense and stretched it's wings out once more.

"Farewell Marie!" Yubel declared. "I'll make sure to use your body and powers to their fullest extent!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon opened it's jaws, causing a rainbow halo to appear before them once more. In a thunderous explosion, the dragon fired a beam of high density rainbow energy straight at the dark orange dragon.

Smirking at the oncoming attack, Marie began giggling, making Jesse raise an eyebrow while his body glowed with a purple aura. In Yubel's voice, Jesse asked "Laughing? What possibly be so funny? Your dragon is outmatched! You can't beat me no matter what you try to do!"

Grinning evilly, Yubel laughed and added "How does it feel to know that you failed? You're not going to defeat me or save the others."

"Really?" Marie questioned with a grin. "Then you won't mind when I crush your dragon right now! I activate my final trap, Tyrant's Rage!"

"What is that!?" Yubel demanded.

Smirking once more, Marie smugly replied "A trap that gives my Tyrant Dragon just the tools it needs to compete with your dragon. In fact, it's thanks to your own dragon's power that mine can do this. After I sacrifice half of my life points, I'm allowed to select the strongest monster on the field and add it's attack points to my dragon's attack points. The fact of the matter is, the strongest monster out is your dragon, meaning Tyrant Dragon gains all of it's attack points (2900 + 10000 12900/2500)!"

Glowing with a bright red aura, the dark orange dragon let out a massive roar while it's strength increased at a high level.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Yubel declared with fear echoing in her words.

"I CAN AND I WILL!" Marie fired back. "Tyrant Dragon, counter with Tyrant Flame!"

Releasing a large roar again, the dark orange dragon shot a stream of hot searing flames out at the oncoming rainbow beam. The two blasts met near the middle of the field, with the two seemingly even. Without warning, the fire stream pressed onwards towards the black dragon, which was putting all it's strength into it's attack, but finally couldn't hold the fire back any longer. The huge stream of flames slammed hard into the black dragon, making it screech loudly out in pain. After a moment, the flame stream stopped it's attack, allowing the remains of the large black dragon to fall to the ground with a thunderous slam, sending debris and smoke over the entire area. Slowly, the dragon vanished into nothingness while the blue glowing circle that surrounded both duelists vanished.

"NOOOOO!!" Yubel cried out while the smoke slowly receded. "HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!"

"Simple, you messed with my friends and I fought back." Marie confidently declared. "Now honor your word Yubel. Release Zane and Syrus from the Shadows, and release Jesse from your control."

Clenching his hands into tight fists while grounding his teeth together, Jesse glared at Marie. In Yubel's feminine voice, he roughly said "Very well. I will honor my word."

Pointing to the left of his body, Jesse's hand began glowing with a black aura. A moment later, two bodies appeared surrounded by black auras. After a moment, the auras faded, revealing Zane and Syrus, who were both unconscious.

"And now release your control over Jesse." Marie commanded sternly while the dark orange dragon glared at the young man before the pair.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Yubel's cold voice said "I will, but don't think this is over Marie. I will attain your body eventually and take command of you. I promise you that one. Your power will be mine."

"We'll see." Marie grunted back. "Now release him."

"Fine."

Glowing with a dark orange aura, Jesse raised his hands as he screamed out. The orange aura soon enough left his body and flew into the air, vanishing completely from the group. Jesse finally settled while panting heavily. He instantly fell face first onto the ground and passed out upon doing so.

Walking over to the three, Marie checked each out and finally sighed. Aloud, she said "They're all alright, just exhausted and unconscious. They should wake later today."

"_Good._" the dark orange dragon growled out. "_We should move them to a safe location._"

Nodding back, Marie motioned for the dragon to come closer. He kneeled down while she managed to get Jesse up off the ground and began shouldering him. Carefully, she carried the young man over to the dragon and laid him onto the dragon's back as gently as possible. After repeating the process with Syrus and Zane, she began walking back into the forest with the dark orange dragon following behind her silently.

--

Finding another ransacked village with no survivors, Yugi heavily sighed. "This is the seventh village I've found like this. It looks like the fiends are most definitely on the move." he lowly mumbled to himself.

Walking through the village, he called out for any survivors, but like he had figured, there were none at all. Heavily sighing once more, he continued exited the village and began walking off towards the edge of the former village. Arriving there, he glanced up at the sky to see smoke in the distance.

"Survivors?" he questioned aloud. Deciding to find out, he began running in the direction of the smoke.

After a few minutes of running, he approached a smoldering bonfire. Nearing it, he glanced around and called out "Hello!? Is anyone here!?"

"Yes I am." a silky voice declared.

Glancing around, Yugi saw a figure stepping out from behind the bonfire. The figure was wearing black robes with a hood covering his head. Removing his hood, the figure revealed a man with black hair that fell down to his upper back, with one violet eye while the other was yellow. The yellow one looked more like an animal's eye, possibly belonging to the canine family.

Smirking, the man walked forward and said "Ah, I see you finally found me, Yugi Moto. I was wondering if the former Pharaoh's vessel would ever do it."

Slightly gasping at the man's declaration, Yugi bit back his surprise and asked "How do you know me?"

"It's not surprising that you don't know who I am." the raven haired man spoke smoothly. "I suppose I should reveal my name. I am the one who served beside of Master Dartz for ten millennia. Your friend Illidan even faced me over ten years ago."

"Darcia…" Yugi mumbled in shock. "But how is it possible!?"

Sneering, Darcia replied "I see you know my name. Well, it is very possible. After the defeat of the Leviathan and Master Dartz, I was released like the other souls."

Clenching his fist tightly, he added "I was very surprised to learn that my former master was defeated by that brash Pharaoh, along with Illidan and his mate. It was inconceivable that the three of them together could bring down the Great Beast, but they did."

"The Orichalcos was tremendously weakened and was nearly destroyed by what had happened, but a small fragment, one that I had hid away, survived. The fragment though was weak. I wished to strengthen it and complete what the Orichalcos had charged me and my former master with, but he had other ideas."

--

Standing next to a shimmering portal, a man with calve length teal colored hair that was held back in a low ponytail with golden eyes, wearing a set of white robes, seemingly was waiting on something. Hearing something, he glanced towards the doorway of the cave he was in and softly smiled when he saw a figure approaching him.

"Ah Darcia, I'm glad to see you have returned." the man smoothly said.

Bowing before the teal haired man, Darcia humbly said "Lord Dartz, I am thankful that you survived the fight with the Pharaoh."

"You do not have to bow any longer Darcia." Dartz calmly said.

Rising, Darcia looked at the man and remarked "Lord Dartz, we can resurrect the Great Leviathan still."

Shaking his head, Dartz sadly smiled and replied "No, it is over my friend."

"What!?" Darcia asked in exasperation. "You can't be serious!? After all the work we've done, we can't quit now!"

"I no longer wish to pursue a foolish ideal that the Orichalcos fed me." Dartz remarked with a sad smile. "The Orichalcos lied to us Darcia. It told us that it's way was the way to save all of mankind, but it was wrong. The Pharaoh has revealed that to me now, and for the first time in ten millennia, I can see that I was wrong. Destroying mankind was the wrong, and that the battle of Atlantis was another mistake. I have given up resurrecting the Great Beast, and I no longer serve the lies of the Orichalcos. I will not be it's puppet again."

"But Master Dartz, you know like I do that the Orichalcos did not lie to us! It would never lie to us! The Pharaoh has poisoned your mind with lies of deceit!" Darcia declared.

Shaking his head sadly, Dartz softly replied "No, it was the Orichalcos that was wrong. I have no will to fight anymore, nor do I wish to believe in the lies of the Orichalcos. The Great Leviathan has been laid to rest and will never rise up again. Darcia, it is over. Please, come with me and live out the remainder of your life in peace."

Seeing Dartz was reaching out his hand for his own, Darcia leapt away and yelled "YOU TRAITOR! How dare you betray the Orichalcos!"

"Darcia, let it go…" Dartz softly said with a look of sadness in his face. "Don't let the anger and hate consume you. The Orichalcos will destroy you if…"

"SHUT UP! DON'T TALK TO ME ANYMORE TRAITOR!" Darcia snarled. "I want no part of you!"

Heavily sighing, Dartz turned his back and mumbled "I am truly sorry for deceiving you for all of these years Darcia. I only pray that you wake from the control of the Orichalcos."

With his words said, Dartz slowly walked into the portal before him. Once crossing through the glowing portal, the teal haired man vanished, causing the portal to destabilize and close.

Standing alone, Darcia clenched his fists tightly and turned away from where the portal had once stood. "I will resurrect the Orichalcos on my own, and revive the Great Leviathan! I will complete the work you began Dartz, I swear it!"

--

"Since then, I began my journey to revive the Orichalcos, but it has been a hard journey thus far." Darcia remarked. "I quickly realized how weak the power of the Orichalcos truly was, for it had given all it's strength to the Great Leviathan in it's fight with the Egyptian Gods. The results of that battle had drained both, but had been far more taxing to the stone than I had originally thought. I realized that in order to succeed, I would need to revive the power of the Orichalcos, but to do so would take many souls. It had taken myself and Dartz ten millennia to simply revive the Great Leviathan, but with reviving the Orichalcos, it would take five millennia. That thought did not sit well with me."

Pausing for a moment, Darcia smirked and added "So I made my choice to seek out other means of repowering the two. If collecting souls would take too long, I needed a new way to reenergize both."

"What did you decide to use then?" Yugi questioned curiously.

Sneering, Darcia responded "I searched for a new power source for nearly ten years. I traveled to other dimensions, finding that there were twelve altogether. Each was rich with power, but I found myself again facing many millennia of work. At long last, I found myself in this dimension, Dark World when I made a discovery."

"I discovered that Duel Energy would be a plentiful substitute for souls. Duel Energy itself is rich with power, and that it is renewable, unlike souls. But to collect this energy, it would still take me a considerable amount of time alone. So I made my decision."

Smirking, he added "I decided to enlist the help of the Shadows. I asked for strong souls within them to join my side and help me repower the Orichalcos."

Sighing slightly, he slowly said "But the Shadows would not do this easily. They required a price to release souls to me. I was asked to send one hundred souls for each soul to be released. After contemplating this offer, I decided to collect six hundred souls in order to release six of the strongest souls from the Shadows."

"Capturing the souls and sending them to the Shadows was child's play. I had learned to wield the Shadow Magic that you and the Pharaoh so openly used. Besides, the souls of Duel Spirits were excellent substitutes as well."

"You monster!" Yugi declared angrily.

Shrugging, Darcia responded "Call me what you will, but I did what was necessary. Eventually, I collected six hundred souls, allowing the Shadows to release six of the most powerful souls from within it. The six became known as Fallen Angels, in which I became their leader. Each of us took up a new name, with them being Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Mammon, Belphegor, Satan, Lucifer, and finally, I took up a name myself. I am called Leviathan. Poetic, don't you think?"

"If you like having a sarcastic sense of humor, I suppose." Yugi grunted out.

Darkly chuckling, Darcia replied "I suppose so. With the seven of us, I was certain that the Orichalcos would be revived in no time. And then I made a discovery, that one of the seven, Lucifer, was much stronger than myself and the others. Upon learning this, the Orichalcos fragment commanded that I yield to him and give him the last fragment, which I did. Now we work under his lead, with him showing us the way to revive the Orichalcos."

"Eventually, we recruited the demoness known as Yubel, who wished to have power. And then we made the discovery of a power within the human world. That power was one who had lived five millennia ago, that had bound himself to a powerful person known as Legato."

Eyes widening, Yugi asked in shock "Zell!?"

"Yes, Zell was his name." Darcia smartly replied. "After losing his body to Legato, he clung to a young man named Zane, but Marie Stormrage broke that connection. He was nearly destroyed, but he managed to move into a new body, one of a young boy named Syrus Truesdale."

Watching Yugi clench his fists tightly and glare hard at himself, Darcia let a smirk play upon his face. "We appeared to him soon enough through Yubel, who had him agree to join our ranks as an ally. It was Zell who attacked your wife and daughter, Mr. Moto. Sadly though, like Yubel, he betrayed us and left our ranks recently. Still, we got much use out of him."

"All of this, just to revive the Orichalcos?" Yugi questioned in a clipped tone.

Receiving a nod, Yugi clenched his hands even tighter and fiercely declared "I won't let you succeed! I'll stop you with all my power!"

"That's what we wanted, Mr. Moto." Darcia smoothly remarked. "We need your soul to make this work. The power the Pharaoh left you will be much needed in repowering the Orichalcos. I'm certain it will go a long way to reviving it."

"I will not be donating any of the power Yami left me to you or the Orichalcos!" Yugi snapped out angrily.

Sneering, Darcia replied "That's right, get angry. The angrier you are, the more powerful your Duel Energy becomes."

Holding his left arm out, Darcia pulled his sleeve back, revealing a black Duel Disk. "I will take the power you possess and give it to the Orichalcos. Soon the stone shall be revived, and all will bow to the power of the Orichalcos once more!"

Moving his own left arm out to reveal his Duel Disk, Yugi fired back "That's not going to happen, because I'm going to stop you here and now."

"Ah, so you accept my challenge?" Darcia candidly asked.

Pulling his deck out of it's holder, Yugi fiercely replied "I accept and will beat you. And once I have, I'll stop this plan of yours, no matter the cost!"

"We'll see." Darcia remarked while pulling his own deck out.

Simultaneously, the pair began shuffling their decks and jammed them into their Duel Disks. A moment later, each Duel Disk came to life, with Darcia's shooting out a blade like structure while Yugi's pushed out and shot a blade out.

Drawing five cards at the same time, each called out "Duel!"


	37. Chapter 36: Gladiator Cage, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, things are going pretty well for me and my mate. We had a decent weekend, with us visiting my grandparents, who had my mom in for a few days also, so that was nice. Other than that, not much has really happened, other than I've been busy like crazy at work, but it's all good.**

**Writing wise, I've been trying to get more done on this story, but this story, along with my other, **_**Another**_**, are both biding for my attention. Both have fallen behind schedule on me writing, so I'm trying to work on both. No worries for now, but still, it's irritating to be this far behind. I expected this story to have ended in August, but oh well.**

**Moving along, review time!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Heh, glad you think it's impossible to predict this story. Glad you really liked that last duel. I tried to work it up, but ardee and I felt it wouldn't be much of a duel, but in the end, it turned out nicely. Lol, true, one would think since it took all Jaden had to free Jesse that Marie wouldn't last the duel. Yep, in the end, Marie beat all the odds and took down Yubel and freed her friends from her clutches. Heh, yeah, ardee and I thought it would be interesting to have Darcia be the founder of the Fallen Angels, which are still surrounded in mystery. But yes, he wishes to revive the Orichalcos, which could be a big problem for the world. Lol, glad I made this story extremely unpredictable. But you're right, there are so many factions out there vying for power that it's hard to figure out who will win. You have a darker Illidan, Yubel, Haou and his army, two Fallen Angels, and then the others trying to pull things back together. Things will just remain interesting, I'll say that much, hehe. His strategy will be rather apparent soon. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yes, Darcia came out of **_**The Wolves Seal**_**, where he was Dartz's second in command since Atlantis sank into the ocean ten millennia ago. He has moved on with his life, trying to complete what him and Dartz started, but failed to accomplish together. Oh, did Rainbow Dark Dragon have more attack points? I didn't notice, but I could have missed it. True, from time to time I find minor mistakes that make me groan at me missing them. But no one is perfect, sadly, so I just move on from it. As for references for stats, I'm going to begin doing that next chapter, so no worries. Thanks for the reivvew!**

**Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I appreciate it. Really, I have nothing else to say today, so I guess I'll wrap this up. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 36**

Smirking while picking up a sixth card, Darcia smugly said "I'll begin our little battle, and it starts with this field spell, Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts!"

Opening the slot on the end of his Duel Disk, Darcia placed the card into the slot, which promptly shut. Immediately, the field began transforming into a large stone and wooden rounded structure, with both Yugi and Darcia in the ring of it.

Glancing around, Yugi mumbled "I've never heard of this card."

"This card is rather powerful, so don't think little of it." Darcia smartly remarked. "Moving along, I summon Gladiator Beast Dimacari (1600/1200) to my field."

Materializing onto the field before Darcia instantly was a blue ox creature, which stood on two legs. It's feet had a pair of blue and gray boots, with a blue and gray battle skirt that hung on it's hips, a metal strap that went across it's chest diagonally to it's left shoulder, which had a shoulder pad, two metal gauntlets, one on each hand, and a series of six floating round bottle cap like structures around it's body. Letting out a snort, the creature smacked it's chest with a single arm.

"And next, I activate the equip spell Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica, and equip it to Dimacari."

The ox creature's right arm instantly glowed to life, forming a mostly light maroon colored piece of armor that went to it's wrist.

"With that, I shall end my turn. Your go, Mr. Moto." (Darcia 8000, Yugi 8000)

Picking up a card, Yugi declared "Don't mind if I do. I start by activating the spell Polymerization, allowing me to fuse Berfomet (1400/1800) and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200) from my hand into Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast (2100/1800)!"

A large creature with mostly orange fur, with some brown, four arms, a pair of white wings on his back, a set of golden horns, and sharp clawed hands of feet first appeared, followed next by a brown lion like creature with a black mane, a horn on his forehead, glowing yellow eyes, and sharp clawed hands and feet.

The two soon began swirling together, and from the swirling came a two headed lion like creature with large white wings on four legs. It had mostly golden fur with a brown mane and a few other patches of brown fur elsewhere. One head of the creature had a single horn on it's forehead while the other head had a pair of horns. It's tail on the end appeared to have a mouth of it's own with a few sharp teeth. Each head let out a mighty roar, showing it's dominance.

"Chimera, attack his beast with Pulverizing Pounce!"

Letting out a roar from each head, the winged creature leapt into the air and soon came crashing down towards the ox creature. The ox instantly raised it's right arm up as a shield. The winged creature slammed hard into the ox, causing the ground to shake slightly upon impact, but the ox managed to hold the winged creature from destroying itself.

"What's going on!? Why didn't Chimera destroy your monster!?"

Darkly chuckling, Darcia smugly replied "Remember, I equipped my monster with Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica. That equip spell keeps my monster from being destroyed in battle."

"I see…" Yugi murmured. Slightly smirking, he added "I bet it doesn't keep you from taking Battle Damage though."

With that said, the large twin headed creature leapt back into the air away from the ox creature and slammed on of it's horned heads into Darcia, making him cry out in pain while his life points drained away. Flying away from Darcia, the winged creature landed before Yugi and let out a soft growl.

"Next, I set…"

"Hold onto that thought for a moment." Darcia interrupted. "Since you just ended your Battle Phase, Dimacari's effect kicks in. Whenever it is attacked or attacks, at the end of the Battle Phase, I can send it back to my deck and special summon another Gladiator Beast, so long as it's not the same one I sent back. So I'll send Dimacari back and find myself a new monster."

The ox creature instantly vanished from the field when Darcia picked the monster card up off of his Monster Zone. Pulling his deck out, he placed the monster on top of it and began searching through his deck. Finally finding the card he wanted, he slapped it onto his Duel Disk and then shuffled his deck once more.

"I special summon this creature in Dimacari's place, Gladiator Beast Secutor (400/300)!"

Materializing onto the field was a green lizard warrior with orange corneas and black irises, with sharp clawed hands. The lizard warrior wore blue and white boots, a battle skirt, a chest plate with shoulder pads, gauntlets, and two twin large round cannon like structures on each shoulder.

Gasping in a bit of surprise, Yugi began to say something when Darica smugly said "And next, my field spell's effect kicks in. You see, each time a Gladiator Beast is special summoned to the field, it gains a Spell Counter. With each Spell Counter on it, my Gladiator Beasts gain 100 attack and defense (400 + 100 500/300 + 100 400)."

Watching the green lizard warrior glow with a light orange aura, Yugi bit his lower lip. Seeing Yugi's reaction, Darcia smirked and added "Next, the equip spell I had on Dimacari returns to my hand. You see, it has a secondary effect. Whenever sent to the Graveyard due that my Gladiator Beast was sent back to my deck, I can return that equip card to my hand. That is all I have."

"Lovely…" Yugi muttered. "I set one card face down and end my turn." (Darica 7500, Yugi 8000)

Drawing a new card, Darcia smirked and said "I activate the equip spell Gladiator Beast's Battle Manica, and equip it to my Secutor."

Forming on the green lizard warrior's right arm instantly was the familiar light maroon colored piece of armor.

"And now, Secutor, attack Chimera with Twin Beast Cannon!"

"Wait, you're attacking a stronger monster!? Why?" Yugi asked in confusion.

Smirking once more, Darcia replied "Don't forget Mr. Moto, my monster is equipped with Battle Manica, meaning it won't be destroyed. Of course I lose life points, but it's worth it to play Secutor's effect."

Gasping in surprise, Yugi couldn't help but watch the green lizard warrior aim both cannons on it's shoulders at his winged beast. The twin cannons fired a pair of blasts straight at the twin headed creature, which easily leapt out of the way and slammed it's twin heads into the warrior. The warrior let out a heavy grunt and slid backwards, but remained standing. Flying higher into the air, the twin headed creature slammed it's horned heads into Darcia, making him grunt out from the heavy impact.

Again smirking, Darcia pointed a finger at his warrior and said "And now, thanks to it being the end of my Battle Phase, Secutor's effect kicks in. Since he attacked, I can now special summon two Gladiator Beasts from my deck to the field."

Pulling his deck out, he began searching it till finally he found the cards he desired. Shuffling his deck back up and replacing it in it's slot, he slapped two monster cards to his Duel Disk, with the first being horizontal and the other being vertical. "I special summon Gladiator Beasts Hoplomus (700/2100) and Laquari (1800/400)."

Appearing onto the field in a crouched defense position was a grey skinned rhino wearing full body silver armor that covered it's entire body but it's face, with several hexagons surrounding it in a ring shape. Materializing next to the rhino was a creature that had orange armor on it's legs up to it's chest and wore a helmet on it's forehead that had a protruding horn. The creature's arms were tiger stripped, with a boar like tail, a brown flowing mane, and sharp clawed hands.

"Since I special summoned both, their special abilities kick in. First, Hoplomus's defense points rise to 2400 (700/2400). Next, Laquari's effect raises it's attack points to 2100 (2100/400). And finally, my field spell kicks in and gains two new Spell Counters. It now has a total of three counters, meaning my Gladiator Beasts each gain 300 more points (400 + 300 700/300 + 300 600) (700 + 300 1000/2400 + 300 2700) (2100 + 300 2400/400 + 300 700)."

Gasping in shock as each of the monsters glowed with an orange aura, Yugi clenched his right fist and bit his lower lip once more. "_Not good, those things just keep getting stronger. And now the one is stronger than Chimera, not to mention another has more defense points than Chimera can overcome._"

"Feeling a bit worried? You should be." Darcia smugly remarked. "I set one card and end my turn. Come Mr. Moto, let's see if you have what it takes to stop me." (Darcia 6000, Yugi 8000)

Picking up a new card, Yugi examined it for a moment. Making a decision, Yugi slapped the card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Queen's Knight (1500/1600)."

Appearing onto the field was a woman in pink armor with long flowing blonde hair that fell to just above her butt with a sword in her left hand and an arrow head shaped shield in her right. On her head was a towering helmet.

Pausing for a moment, Yugi stared at the field till he finally said "Chimera, attack his Secutor with Pulverizing Pounce!"

Leaping into the air with a roar from each head, the twin headed creature dive bombed the green lizard creature. Slamming it's full weight into the lizard warrior, the winged creature growled out in frustration when it was flung back into the air. Coming about, the twin headed creature slammed into Darcia, making him cry out in pain and begin lightly panting.

"Now then, I activate my face down spell, De-Fusion! This splits my Chimera back apart into Berfomet (1400/1800) and Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts (1500/1200)!"

Glowing with a white light, the twin headed winged lion like creature split off into two beams of light, which landed onto the field in the form of the four armed creature with white wings and the brown lion like creature with a black mane.

"Go Berfomet, Gazelle, and Queen's Knight, attack Secutor!"

Rushing forward, the four armed creature, along with the brown lion creature, slashed out at the green lizard creature. The lizard managed to fend off the twin clawed attacks, but forced the two towards Darcia, who cried out in pain as each slashed him across the chest. Not having a moment to recover, Darcia saw the pink armored warrior race across the field and slash the green armored lizard, who deflected the attack towards him once more, who screamed out in pain when he was struck across the chest by the female warrior's sword. Weakly standing, Darcia glared at Yugi while panting heavily.

Calming his breathing, Darcia darkly chuckled and smugly remarked "Thanks to that your move, since you're moving to the end of your Battle Phase, I get to play Secutor's effect, meaning I get to play two more Gladiator Beasts!"

Pulling his deck out, Darcia sifted through it till he found two cards. Shuffling his deck once more, he placed it back into it's slot and then slapped two monster cards onto his Duel Disk.

"I play both Gladiator Beasts Dimacari (1600/1200) and Andal (1900/1500)."

Emerging onto the field in a glow was the ox like creature once more, followed by a towering black bear warrior standing on two feet with purple boots, battle skirt, chest plate, and gloved fists. The bear had one eye with a scar over it and only looked out the remaining one.

"And let's not forget, since I just special summoned two more Gladiator Beasts, my field spell gains two more counters, meaning all my monsters gain an additional 500 points (400 + 500 900/300 + 500 800) (700 + 500 1200/2400 + 500 2900) (2100 + 500 2600/400 + 500 900) (1600 + 500 2100/1200 + 500 1700) (1900 + 500 2400/1500 + 500 2000)."

Each of the creatures let out a small roar while each of their bodies glowed with an orange aura.

Staring at the creatures before him, Yugi selected on his two last cards in his hand and slid it into one of his empty Spell/Trap Slots, saying "Very well, I shall end with one face down." (Darcia 2300, Yugi 8000)

Deliberately drawing slowly, Darcia smirked at Yugi and said "Mr. Moto, such foolish actions shall now be punished. I first place Secutor into defense, and next, proceed to attack your Queen's Knight with Andal. Crush his knight with Bear Claw Crush!"

Letting out a loud roar, the black bear warrior charged forward with it's teeth bared. Nearing the female warrior, it pulled back it's gloved fist and began pushing of forward towards the weaker warrior.

"Not quite Darcia, I activate a trap! Go Zero Gravity!" Yugi declared.

Instantly, the black bear warrior stopped it's attack and retreated to beside it's allies and fell into a kneeling position. The ox creature, along with the creature that had tiger stripped arms each did the same, while the rhino and green lizard creature stood back up from their kneeling stances.

Across the field, the pink armored female warrior, along with the brown lion creature and four armed creature each took up kneeling stances as well.

Shocked, Darcia looked towards Yugi and shouted "What have you done to my creatures!?"

"Not much really." Yugi smartly remarked. "Zero Gravity forces all monsters to switch their modes. As you saw, a majority of your monsters and all of mine went to defense mode, while two of yours went to attack mode."

Growling lowly, Darcia angrily spat out "You will not make a mockery of my beasts! I attack your Gazelle with Hoplomus!"

Charging forward with an indignant grunt, the rhino creature slammed it's entire body into the brown lion creature, which held it's ground once it dug it's feet in, forcing the rhino to retreat to it's side of the field.

"Why do that? Your monster's attack points were equal to Gazelle's defense points, so it was already decided a draw, so I don't understand that move." Yugi declared with a puzzled look.

Smirking at it, Darcia fiercely replied "It was a simple decision. You see, now that Hoplomus has attacked, I can leave my Battle Phase and activate his special ability. I'll send him back to my deck to summon a new Gladiator Beast, one with more power."

With his words said, Darcia picked the card up off of his Duel Disk and pulled his deck out, causing the rhino warrior to vanish. Searching through his deck, he sifted through it till he found the card he desired. Upon finding it, he pulled it out and slapped it onto his Duel Disk while shuffling his deck and replacing it once more.

"Now rise up Gladiator Beast Spartacus (2200/1600)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a brown armored gray skinned dinosaur warrior, with armor covering his calves, chest, and shoulders, a battle skirt, and a pair of gauntlets on his hands. In his hands was a golden axe that had a fan like blade etched into it. On the dinosaur's head was a pair of large spikes that were slicked back, with a matching set of three on each shoulder pad.

"Whenever I special summon Spartacus, I get to add an equip spell from my deck, so long as it has the words 'Gladiator Beasts' in it."

Removing his deck once more, Darcia searched through it till he found the card he desired. Showing it, he said "I pick this one, Gladiator Beast's Battle Halberd. Next, my field spell gains another Spell Counter. That means all my creatures gain 100 more points (400 + 600 1000/300 + 600 900) (2100 + 600 2700/400 + 600 1000) (1600 + 600 2200/1200 + 600 1800) (1900 + 600 2500/1600 + 600 2100) (2200 + 600 2800/1600 + 600 2200)."

Each animal creature instantly began lowly growling while their bodies glowed with an orange aura.

Pulling a card from his hand and placing it into one of his Spell/Trap Slots, Darcia coolly said "I set this card and end my move." (Darcia 2300, Yugi 8000)

Picking up a new card, Yugi glanced at it and pondered on it for a moment. "_Right now, three of his five Gladiator Beasts are in defense. I can win this duel by attacking his Secutor with all three of my monsters. Still, I ponder what his face down is._"

Eyeing the card image carefully, Yugi finally said "I summon my King's Knight (1600/1400)."

Materializing onto the field instantly was an older man wielding a sword and round shield wearing orange and red armor, a purple cape on his back. His body was muscular, with long flowing blonde hair reaching his upper back and a blond beard covering his face.

"With King's Knight on the field now, I can play his effect. When Queen's Knight and King's Knight are both in play, I can special summon from my deck Jack's Knight (1900/1000)."

Instantly appearing onto the field in blue armor with a gleaming silver sword and blue shield, a blonde haired knight let out a small grunt while taking up position next to his comrades.

"Jack's Knight, lead off this turn by attacking Secutor with Royal Slash!"

Racing forward with a small battle cry, the blue armored warrior swung his sword at the weaker green lizard creature.

Sneering, Darcia smugly said "I think not. I activate the trap Defensive Tactics, which can only be played whenever I have at least one Gladiator Beast on the field. Now none of my monsters can be destroyed in battle, nor do I take any Battle Damage for this turn. Finally, I can place this card on the bottom of my deck, so this card can once more be used in time."

Without warning, the blue armored knight's sword slammed into a gray barrier. After grinding his sword against the barrier for a moment, the warrior retreated to it's allies sides while lightly growling with frustration.

Shifting three of his cards into horizontal positions, Yugi huffed out " I end my turn by switching Gazelle, Berfomet, and Queen's Knight to defense." (Darcia 2300, Yugi 8000)

"Very well then Mr. Moto, I draw." Darcia silkily said while drawing a card. "Time I crushed your pathetic creatures. I begin by switching all of my monsters back into attack mode. And now, attack his pathetic Jack's Knight now my Dimacari with Gauntlet Fist!"

Letting out a snort, the bull creature quickly charged across the field and slammed it's heavy metal gauntlet covered fist into the stomach of the blue armored knight, who let out a heavy cry of pain before shattering.

"By the way Mr. Moto, when Dimacari is summoned by a Gladiator Beast's effect, it can attack twice a round, so crush that pathetic Queen's Knight also!"

Moving down the line of monsters, the bull creature made quick work of the female blonde haired knight with it's heavy fist. The female warrior let out a small cry of pain before shattering into millions of pixels, leaving three monsters behind.

"Obliterate his King's Knight Spartacus with Spartan Axe Slam!"

Leaping high into the air, the dinosaur warrior came swinging downwards with it's large axe, easily cleaving the elder knight in half before it could even let out a grunt of pain. The knight soon shattered, leaving Yugi grunting out from the explosion and loss of his monster.

"Destroy his Berfomet and Gazelle now Andal and Laquari with Bear Claw Crush and Flaming Strike!"

Racing forward in a zigzag pattern, the bear warrior and the fiery tiger armed creature reached their intended targets. The bear lashed out with it's large clawed gauntlets and easily crushed the weaker brown lion creature, while the fiery tiger armed creature struck the four armed beast, which let out a roar of pain while shattering.

"And now, direct attack him Secutor with Twin Beast Cannon!"

Letting out a small roar, the green lizard warrior took aim with both of it's cannons on it's shoulders and released a set of beams. Both struck Yugi hard, making him cry out in pain before taking a step backwards while panting lightly.

"I believe that's enough torture, for now. Since my Battle Phase is ending, I could send my Gladiator Beasts back to my deck and summon out new ones, but I'll not for the time being. Instead, I will Fusion Summon a new monster, but it doesn't require Polymerization. I instead must send Gladiator Beast Spartacus and another Gladiator Beast to my deck. I choose Secutor, so be gone both of you!"

Glowing, the dinosaur warrior, along with the green lizard warrior vanished. Appearing in their place was a bright glowing light.

"And now then, the monster I summon is this, Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz (2600/1500)."

Materializing onto the field from the glow was a new creature that had gray skin, a muscular build, a black battle skirt that was only a few inches above the ground, heavy set black gauntlets with spikes sticking out of them, large hands with red claws, a long gray lizard like tail, thick gold wing like structures, and eagle like head with a pharaoh like helmet that had red feathers sticking out from each side of it's head. In the creature's large right hand was a huge axe that looked similar to the same one that the dinosaur warrior had held.

"I'm sure you're dying to know what this creature does, aren't you?" Darcia smugly questioned.

Glaring at the creature, Yugi replied in a clipped tone "I'll deal with it."

"Very well, suit yourself." Darcia commented with a shrug. "Now then, there is the fact that my field spell just gained another Spell Counter, giving it a total of seven, meaning all my monsters gain 700 more points (2100 + 700 2800/400 + 700 1100) (1600 + 700 2300/1200 + 700 1900) (1900 + 700 2600/1600 + 700 2200) (2200 + 700 2900/1600 + 700 2300) (2600 + 700 3300/1500 + 700 2200)."

Each creature instantly glowed to life with a golden aura, with all of the monsters letting out soft growls as their strength increased.

"Also, since I sent Secutor to my deck by effect of Gladiator Beast, I get my Battle Manica back in my hand. I think that should do for now. Your move Mr. Moto, if you have one." (Darcia 2300, Yugi 5500)

Glancing at the cards in his hand and then back at his deck, Yugi looked back up at Darcia's four creatures and then back at his deck. "_Right now, there is no way to stop all four of those creatures at once. Nothing in my hand can help me. I need to stall them till I can come up with a plan. If I don't do something now though, I'll be finished off in a turn. Come on Heart of the Cards, guide me!_"

Drawing his card and looking at it, Yugi slightly smirked and slapped the card horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I set this monster and end my turn." (Darcia 2300, Yugi 5500)

"Pathetic." Darcia commented while drawing a card. "It's time I brought this duel to an end. Farewell Mr. Moto. Crush his last line of defense now Gaiodiaz with Gladiator Axe Strike!"

Letting out a small battle cry, the gray skinned warrior took to the air with his axe raised high above it's head. Coming down hard, the axe slammed heavily into face down card image, shattering it and revealing a pink pair shaped like creature with an upside down face. It had two eyes, a smile, and two rosy cheeks. The axe slammed into the creature, but didn't seem to harm it at all while a small explosion ensued. Through the smoke of the explosion, the creature came racing out of it and opened it's jaws, revealing a row of sharp teeth. Racing across the field in the middle of the chaos, the creature sank it's teeth into Darcia's leg, making him cry out in pain.

Shaking his leg till the creature came off, Darcia snarled "What is that thing!?"

"That would be my good old pal Marshmallon (300/500), and you triggered his effect when you attacked him. When flipped up by an attack, he deals you an automatic 1000 points of direct damage." Yugi explained with a smile.

Growling lowly, Darcia spat back "But that doesn't explain why it's not gone from the field!"

"Oh, well that's simple to explain also. He can't be destroyed due to battle." Yugi smartly remarked.

Clenching his right fist tightly, Darcia angrily yelled "Dimacari, attack his creature with Gauntlet Fist!"

Quickly crossing the field, the ox like creature let out a small roar while slamming it's heavy fist into the pink creature. The creature's body contorted to keep from shattering, but returned to normal the instant the bull's fist was retracted.

"Why bother doing that? You knew you couldn't win that battle, so why try?" Yugi questioned with a frown.

Smirking evilly, Darcia smugly replied "So I can do this! I move to the end of my Battle Phase, meaning I can now activate Dimacari's special ability. I send him back to my deck in order to summon a new Gladiator Beast!"

Searching through his deck while the ox creature on the field vanished, Darcia smirked and confidently called out while slapping a new card to his Duel Disk "I summon the mighty Gladiator Beast Murmillo (800/400) in defense!"

Immediately materializing onto the field was an aquatic warrior that was blue, with pink stretched skin for webbing between the creature's fingers and created a set of wings from it's left elbow to it's mid-thigh, a fish like face, and a set of cone shaped shell like cannons.

"Since I just summoned Murmillo to the field due to a Gladiator Beast's ability, it can automatically destroy one monster on the field. Guess what, your pathetic Marshmallon get's destroyed!"

Letting out a small hoarse growl, the blue sea creature turned it's two cone shaped shells towards the small pink pair shaped creature. The two shells instantly opened and shot out a set of twin water jets towards the weaker creature. The blasts made the pink creature let out a loud cry before shattering it into millions of pixels.

Seeing Yugi growl lowly, Darcia smirked and darkly said "It's only a matter of time Mr. Moto. You have no defenses left now. Next turn, you will be crushed under the full weight of all of my Gladiator Beasts! Now then, since I summoned another Gladiator Beast, my field spell increases their strength (2100 + 800 2900/400 + 800 1200) (1900 + 800 2700/1600 + 800 2300) (2200 + 800 3000/1600 + 800 2400) (2600 + 800 3400/1500 + 800 2300) (800 + 800 1600/700 + 800 1500). I end my turn by discarding this useless spell card, so go ahead and try to find some kind of defense." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 5500)

Glancing at his deck, Yugi felt a small trickle of sweat run down his cheek. "_If I don't draw the right card now, I'll lose this duel. I can't give up, no matter what, but things are not looking up._"

Looking over at Darcia's field, he lightly grimaced at the thought of the four monsters on his field direct attacking you. Closing his eyes, Yugi mumbled "_What am I going to do? I can't beat those things without a high level monster, but I don't have any in my hand, and even if I draw one, I'll need sacrifices for it._"

"_Tea, I swear, I will come back. No matter what it takes, I will return to you and Yoshi, even if I have to walk through Hell itself to return._"

Gasping softly, Yugi flashed his eyes open upon realizing those words he heard in his mind was his own that he had said to Tea right before he left home. "_I cannot fail! I swore to both Tea and Yoshi that I'd return, so I have to win! No matter what, I have to keep fighting._"

Drawing his new card, the spiked haired young man glanced at his card and showed it, saying "I activate the spell Pot of Greed. With this, I can draw two new cards!"

Snapping off two cards, Yugi glanced at them and softly smiled at them. Placing one into his left hand, he placed the other into one of his empty Spell/Trap Slots. "I'll set this and end my move." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 5500)

"Looks like I was right. You're about to lose, Mr. Moto." Darcia smugly remarked while drawing his card. "First, I'll switch Murmillo into attack mode. And next, I'll crush you with Andal. Go, take the first strike and hit him with your Bear Claw Crush!"

Letting out a deep grunt, the bear warrior raced across the field and leapt high into the air. With a heavy grunt, it pulled back one clawed hand and readied itself to strike out at Yugi.

Before the bear could begin it's descent, Yugi called out "I'm not finished yet, Darcia! I activate the spell known as Spell Textbook!"

Instantly, the bear warrior froze in mid-air, which let out a loud grunt. At the same time, Darcia growled lowly and angrily spat out "You choose to take a chance with this useless card!"

"We'll see how useless it is." Yugi smartly replied. "Now then, when this card is activated, I must discard my entire hand."

Placing the remaining two cards in his hand into his Graveyard Slot, Yugi calmly added "Next, I get to draw one card from my deck. If it's a spell, I get to play it immediately, otherwise it's discarded to my Graveyard and I'll lose this duel."

"How foolish of you to think you'll win with that card. The chances of you drawing a spell are very slim. Go on and waste your time, but I won't be holding my breath." Darcia snidely remarked.

Looking at his Duel Disk, Yugi placed his fingers onto the top card of his deck, but felt them lightly trembling. "_If this isn't a helpful card, I'll lose. I have to draw something here and now if I want to return to Tea and Yoshi. No matter what, I must draw a spell._"

Closing his eyes while preparing to draw, he mumbled in his mind "_Please Heart of the Cards, guide me._"

Picking up his card, he opened his eyes and looked at the new card. Smiling he flashed it towards Darcia, who gasped in shock. "I activate the spell Swords of Revealing Light! This means you can't attack me for three whole turns!"

Immediately, several glowing white swords of energy slammed into the ground before Darcia, forcing the bear warrior to land back on the field next to it's allies.

Clenching his right fist tightly, Darcia roared out "You cannot evade me forever!"

"I don't have to. Just till I can win this duel." Yugi calmly replied.

Gnashing his teeth, Darcia jammed a card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, snarling out "I set this and end!" (Darcia 1300, Yugi 5500)

Letting out a heavy sigh, Yugi drew his next card and glanced it over before slapping it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I set this monster and end my turn." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 5500)

Picking up a card gruffly, Darcia glanced at it before beginning to darkly chuckle. "It looks like my luck is changing. I activate the spell that should be familiar to you, Mr. Moto. I play Purity of the Cemetery."

"I know that card…" Yugi mumbled lowly while his eyes widened a small fraction.

Smirking, Darcia knowingly said "This card first causes me to discard two cards from my hand, so I'll toss these two."

Placing the cards into his Graveyard Slot, Darcia waited while the cards were sucked in. Once gone, he continued on, saying "Next, so long as I have no monsters in my Graveyard, this card's effect stays in play. And now for the fun part, Mr. Moto, for with this card in play, you take 100 points of damage during each of your Standby Phases for each monster in your Graveyard."

Watching Yugi cringe upon hearing his words, Darcia smartly added "I end my turn at that, so go on and try to stop me Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 5500)

Drawing a card quietly, Yugi began to speak when Darcia called out "Let's not forget Mr. Moto, you lose 100 life points per a monster in your Graveyard. So then, how many do you have?"

Grumbling lightly, Yugi held his Duel Disk up while his Graveyard Slot began pushing it's contents out. Picking all of the cards up, he thumbed through them and made a quick count before finally sighing and replying "I have a total of seven monsters in my Graveyard."

"Then you lose 700 life points during each of your Standby Phases." Darcia callously remarked.

Grunting while his body glowed with a light red aura and his life points dropped, Yugi replaced the cards he held into his Graveyard Slot. Glancing at the lone card in his hand, he frowned and finally said "I'll place this face down and end my turn." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 4800)

Deliberately drawing his card slowly, Darcia smirked and silkily said "I shall switch Murmillo into defense and then end my turn. And since I'm ending my move, your Swords of Revealing Light burn off, meaning next turn is your last. Enjoy it while you can, Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1300, Yugi 4800)


	38. Chapter 37: Gladiator Cage, Pt 2

**OMG! I'm so sorry guys! I thought I had posted this chapter 2 weeks ago! I apparently uploaded it onto , but forgot to post it. I'm so sorry. Anyways, my apologies for this. At any rate, I will post again Thursday to make up for this. I'm so sorry once again.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Raymond: Heh, the Gladiator Beasts were fun to play with. Writing this duel makes me wish I had enough of them for a real deck. But yes, the effects of the Gladiator Beasts is complicated. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Glad you liked seeing the GBs in action. They're very powerful, and quite resilient, plus a new one could come out in theory each turn. But yes, Darcia is starting to take it to Yugi, who is finding it more and more difficult to deal with those GBs. True, if Yugi drew the right cards, he could win, but he needs the cards first. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Yep, Darcia got the Gladiator Beasts, heh. Those monsters are incredible, and extremely hard to beat. They just keep coming back for more. Heh, cool about being fascinated with Roman Gladiators. I find Roman history quite interesting myself. But yes, these monsters are very unique and have few weaknesses it seems. Glad you thought I handled the GBs well in that first chapter. Yes, Purity of the Cemetery is a perfect addition to Darcia's deck. Like Raphael, he rarely has a monster in the Graveyard, so it's hard for Yugi to take that spell out. Heh, thanks for the comments, and for your review!**

**Well, that's it for this session. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I greatly appreciate all of them. Each of your comments are very helpful in my writing of these chapters, so thank you once more.**

**Anyways, I'm out for now. Enjoy!**

**Stats from previous chapter**

**Life Points:**

**Yugi 4800**

**Darcia 1300**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Yugi 1**

**Darcia 4**

**Number of face down spells/traps:**

**Yugi 1**

**Darcia 2**

**Number of face up spells/traps:**

**Yugi 0**

**Darcia 1**

**Number of cards in hands:**

**Yugi 0**

**Darcia 5**

**Current field spell:**

**Colosseum – Cage of the Gladiator Beasts (8 Spell Counters) (800 bonus attack and defense for Gladiator Beasts)**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Yugi Face down monster**

**Darcia Gladiator Beast Gaiodiaz (2600/1500), Gladiator Beast Laquari (1800/400),**

**Gladiator Beast Murmillo (800/400) (defense), Gladiator Beast Andal (1900/1500)**

**Spells/Traps on the field:**

**Yugi None**

**Darcia Purity of the Cemetery**

**Chapter 37**

Staring at his deck, Yugi eyed the top card carefully before slowly picking it up. Before he could say anything, Darcia called out "Don't forget, Mr. Moto, you lose 700 life points thanks to my Purity of the Cemetery card."

Growling lowly while his life points drained away, Yugi bit back "I haven't forgotten."

Looking at his new card, he lightly smirked, saying "I think it's time that spell card of yours vanished. First off, I'll start this turn by placing a card face down. Next, I'll flip summon my face down monster, Morphing Jar (700/600)."

Rising up onto the field immediately was a blue jar with a strange black round creature with a long neck, a single eye, and grungy looking yellow teeth showing in a smile.

"When Morphing Jar is flipped up, we must discard our entire hands to the Graveyard."

Grunting with irritation, Darcia wordlessly placed all five cards in his hand into his Graveyard Slot, which silently sucked down all of them at once. "It's a good thing I held no monsters then, isn't it Mr. Moto?" he smugly commented.

"I suppose." Yugi bit out. "Next, thanks to Morphing Jar, we each draw five cards."

Both simultaneously picked up five cards at the same time, with Yugi smirking lightly. "And now it's time I show you what I'm truly made of. I activate my face down spell, Quick Summon! This spell allows me to have an extra summoning this turn, so I'll begin by summoning Alpha the Magnet Warrior (1400/1700)!"

Materializing onto the field in a flash was a dull gray magnet creature wielding a sword and a shield. Landing on the field, the creature let out a low moan.

"I'm not done yet, for I activate the spell Ties of the Brethren! With this card, I must pay 1000 life points, but in return, I get to special summon from my deck two monsters, level four or below, to my field in defense mode, so long as they have the same Attribute."

Pulling his deck out and sifting through it, Yugi finally found the cards he was looking for and slapped them horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I choose these two, Beta and Gamma, the Magnet Warriors (1700/1600) (1500/1800)!"

Appearing next to the gray magnet creature immediately was a yellow round magnet creature with magnets for hands and feet, a set of magnets on the side of hit's head. Next to the yellow creature appeared yet another magnet creature, this one being pink with wings. Each instantly took up a kneeling stance with their arms crossed defensively.

"Summoning those weaklings won't save your life points, Mr. Moto." Darcia snidely pointed out.

Slightly smirking, Yugi asked "Who said I was defending myself? I plan to use them to take you down!"

"Not likely." Darcia replied in a huff. "None of your creatures have the strength necessary to even scratch my creatures. Murmillo is the weakest of my Gladiator Beasts, but he's in defense, so attacking it would be pointless, but that would be if you could. But you can't since the strongest of your creatures is in defense mode."

"We'll see, won't we?" Yugi smartly remarked. "Now then, since I have Alpha, Beta, and Gamma all three on my field, I can send them to my Graveyard in order to special summon Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850)!"

Each of the three magnet creatures let out a small moan and began to split apart. Slowly, the pieces began to form a new single creature. The creature had a sword, powerful arms and feet, a strong set of pink wings, and a yellow masked face with magnets on each side of it. Letting out a new moan, the creature took up an offensive stance.

Noting Darcia's grimace, Yugi called out "I'm not through yet! I sacrifice Morphing Jar to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)!"

Lightning suddenly struck the field without warning, hitting the weaker jar creature, causing it to vanish in a flash. From the flash came a demon like creature made of white bone with red muscle surrounding most of its body. It's hands and feet had three claws, and on it's back were a pair of blue wings. The head of the creature had a pair of horns that pointed to the left and right, with it's head mostly looking like a skull. The creature's eyes were aqua colored and seemingly held much rage within them. It let out a low growl, seemingly challenging the other monsters on the field.

"Summoned Skull, strike down his Murmillo with Lightning Strike!"

Letting out a loud growl, the demonic creature raised both arms to the sides of it's body. Bolts of lightning instantly began forming around it's body. Without hesitation, the demonic creature shot a beam of electrified energy straight at the weaker sea creature, which howled out in pain while the electricity fried it to a crisp. In seconds, the creature shattered into millions of pixels, leaving only smoke behind.

"And now, Valkyrion, cut down his Gaiodiaz with Magna Slash!"

Charging forward with a glowing white sword, the magnet warrior raised it's sword and slashed out at the gray skinned creature, easily cleaving completely through it in a single swipe. The creature didn't even have a chance to howl out in pain before exploding into millions of pixels.

"With those two monsters in your Graveyard, your Purity of the Cemetery card goes to the Graveyard." Yugi informed.

Growling lowly while his spell card shattered, Darcia snarled out "You can't win! Why bother with this foolish attempt to win!?"

"Because I'm not about to lose this duel to you! Too many people are counting on me." Yugi firmly replied. "And I'm far from done this turn, so I activate Valkyrion's special ability! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can bring back Alpha (1400/1700), Beta (1700/1600), and Gamma (1500/1800) the Magnet Warriors in defense mode."

Breaking apart into the three monsters that created itself, the large magnet creature vanished, leaving behind in it's wake the gray, yellow, and pink magnet creatures, each in a kneeling stance sitting on a horizontal card image.

"I'm not done still, for I play my other face down, Magnet Reverse! This spell allows me to return to the field one Rock or Machine Type monster that went to the Graveyard this turn, so I revive Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850) in defense mode."

Reappearing onto the field instantly was the combination magnet creature with it's arms crossed and wings furled up.

"That does it for me." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 3100)

Grabbing a new card hastily, Darcia snarled out "You will not make a fool of me! I will crush you with all the power I have! Behold, I summon back Gladiator Beast Dimacari (1600/1200)!"

Rematerializing onto the field before Darcia instantly was ox warrior from earlier in the duel. It let out a light grunt while it's body glowed with a golden glow (1600 + 800 2400/1200 + 800 2000).

"With him back, I can now create a new Fusion Type monster. It requires that I have Laquari and two other Gladiator Beasts, which I do, so I send all three back to my deck!"

Vanishing one by one, the three warriors turned into golden dust. Without warning, a bright golden glow formed in their missing places, which slowly began fading. From the glow stepped out a new warrior, this one with wild long brown hair, a mask that covered his face that was reddish in color, a skin tight purple body suit covered with a green, blue, and yellow chest plate, tiger stripped shoulder pads, thick black boots, and a black and red battle skirt. In his right hand was an axe with a short handle that had a black blade with a golden edge. Over in his left hand, he held a golden shield made up of several hexagons. Fully on the field, the warrior let out a low growl while shifting his axe into an offensive position.

"Meet my newest Gladiator Beast, Gladiator Beast Heraklinos (3000/2800). And since he was just played, my field spell gains yet another counter, raising it's counter total to nine. That means he gains 900 extra points (3900/3700)."

Glowing golden for a moment, the masked warrior let out a low grunt while it's strength increased.

"With this monster, I shall grind you into dust. Attack his pathetic Summoned Skull with Crushing Slash!"

Charging forward at unbelievable speed, the masked warrior was quickly before the bone demon with it's axe pulled back above it's head. Without hesitation, the warrior cut cleanly through the demonic creature, making the creature squeal loudly before shattering. Still charging forward, the warrior raised it's axe once more and took a swipe at Yugi, cutting easily into his right shoulder and drawing a strangled hiss.

Smirking at the small amount of blood dripping off of his creature's axe, Darcia smartly said "I shall end my turn at that. The end is near, Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Reaching up and clamping his left hand over his right shoulder, Yugi flinched from the pain flaring down his arm. Pulling his hand away and looking at it, he saw his own blood in it and grimaced. "_I'm not used to these Shadow Games. When Yami was around, he could take more of the brunt of the assault and keep himself from being very wounded, but with just me, my body can't resist as much._"

Letting out a small ragged sigh, he wiped his hand off and returned the remaining card he held in his right hand back to his left. Drawing a card from his deck, he looked it over for a moment before sliding it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I set this and end." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

"Very well, Mr. Moto." Darcia silkily commented. Picking up a card, he calmly said "Time to wipe out more of your monsters, and this time it will be Valkyrion. Attack with Crushing Slash!"

Racing across the field, the masked warrior picked up speed and readied his axe for his assault on the magnet creature.

"Not this time Darcia!" Yugi fiercely declared while pointing at his face down card. "I reveal the trap Mirror Force, which will destroy your monster!"

Smirking, the dark haired man slyly said "Not quite Mr. Moto. You've triggered my monster's special ability by activating that trap. Upon activation, I'm allowed to discard one card from my hand to the Graveyard in order to negate your trap."

Watching Darcia place a card into his Graveyard Slot, Yugi could hardly suppress a gasp when his trap card shattered. Without warning, the masked warrior continued onwards and slammed it's heavy axe into the magnet creature, making it howl out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

"And then there was three." Darcia smugly remarked. "I believe that's enough for now. Go on Mr. Moto, make your pathetic move, if you have the guts to." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Glancing at the remaining card in his hand, Yugi frowned at it and drew his new one. Eyeing it, he softly smirked and said "I activate the spell Underworld Circle…"

"No you don't." Darcia smugly remarked. "I activate Heraklinos's special ability, forcing me to discard a card to negate your spell."

Watching Darcia place a card into his Graveyard, Yugi grimaced when his spell suddenly shattered. Lowly growling, he grunted out "That means that your monster can negate my spell and traps during either of our turns."

"You're catching on quickly." Darcia smartly replied.

Gritting his teeth, Yugi muttered "I end." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Picking up his new card, Darcia smirked tauntingly asked "You know this duel is over, right?"

"It isn't over till the last card is played, and last I checked, I still have some." Yugi defiantly fired back.

Shrugging, the long black haired man calmly replied "Very well, if you wish to fight till the bitter end, who am I to stop you. Heraklinos, crush his pathetic Gamma the Magnet Warrior with Crushing Slash!"

Without hesitation, the masked warrior quickly crossed the field and buried it's axe heavily into the pink magnet creature's shoulder and cut cleanly through. The magnet creature let out a small moan of pain instantly, but soon exploded, leaving nothing but smoke in it's place.

"Your move Mr. Moto." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Wordlessly, Yugi drew his new card and examined it for a moment. At long last, he placed the card onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense mode."

Slowly materializing onto the field was a warrior with long black hair wearing a teal and purple shirt with no sleeves, orange pants, and had a huge shield that covered almost all of his body whom was kneeling.

"That's all I can do for now." (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Grabbing a new card and smirking victoriously, Darcia smugly said "I'll begin by playing the spell Dark World Dealings. With this, we both may draw one card, but then we must discard one card."

Both simultaneously drew their new card. After a moment, each placed a card into the Graveyard Slots, with Darcia smirking once more.

"This duel is over for you, Mr. Moto. I activate the devastating spell known as Stop Defense! With this, I can switch the mode of your Big Shield Guarnda from defense into attack mode, leaving you wide open!"

Gasping in shock while his warrior stood up, Yugi clenched his right hand tightly. Seeing his reaction, Darcia darkly chuckled and said "It is over for you, Mr. Moto. Once I attack, you will receive 3800 points of Battle Damage, which will easily wipe out your meager 1700 life points. Winning this duel was far easier than I thought it would be."

Pointing at the weaker warrior, Darcia cried out "Heraklinos, obliterate his life points by destroying his Big Shield Guardna with Crushing Slash!"

Racing forward at breakneck speed, the masked warrior pulled back it's might axe and swung hard at the standing warrior. His axe struck the shield hard, sending sparks flying, but the shield of the warrior stayed off the attack. At long last, tired of grinding it's axe against the shield, the masked creature backed away, with confusion showing on it's master's face.

"Why is your monster still here!? It should be in the Graveyard and you should have lost!" Darcia growled out.

Smirking slightly, Yugi replied "Actually, you're wrong. You see, you helped me out just a moment ago. When I discarded that card, it was a monster known as Electromagnetic Turtle (0/1800). Upon it being sent to the Graveyard, I can end the Battle Phase of either of our turns when I please, just for once though."

"Why you…" Darcia darkly muttered with a fierce glare. "I end!" (Darcia 1200, Yugi 1700)

Glancing at his deck, Yugi fingered the top card but held off from drawing it. "_If I'm going to win this duel, now is the time to do it. I won't last much longer at this rate. Come on Heart of the Cards, please, guide me!_"

Picking up his new card, Yugi glanced at it and let out a strangled gasp of shock. Placing it into his left hand, he slightly smirked, making Darcia frown. "Why do you smirk? Is it because you know you've lost now, Mr. Moto?"

"Because I can now take you down, once and for all." Yugi confidently replied. "I hold the cards in my hand to win this duel and put an end to your ambitious dream of bringing back the Orichalcos!"

Sneering, Darcia smugly remarked "You bluff. Lest you forget, as long as Heraklinos is out on the field, you cannot play any spell or trap cards because I'll simply negate them with his effect by discarding one card. And I know for a fact that you have no monsters with enough attack points to repel him since he has 3900 attack points. Only a handful of monsters have enough attack points to beat my monster outright, and all are fusion monsters, so you winning is impossible!"

"We'll see about that." Yugi smartly retorted. "I'll start by sacrificing both Alpha and Beta the Magnet Warriors to summon Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction (0/0)!"

Both the gray and yellow magnet creatures each vanished in a flash, making way for a rapidly appearing black creature. The monster took form of a large black dragon with numerous red circular lights appearing along it's body, with most appearing on the sides of it's tail in a row on either side, one on each knee, a row going up it's thigh, another row running up the sides of it's abs, one in the center of it's chest, four on it's knuckles and up it's arms, another row going up either side of it's neck, a set on it's large scaled forehead, and a row on the edges of each of it's wings. The dragon had sharp clawed talons on it's feet and hands, with a large set of black wings on it's back that had spikes sticking out around the tops of it's wings and the bottom of them. Fully on the field, the dragon raised it's neck, revealing several large scales, one visibly on it's forehead. Letting out a horrific roar, the dragon spread it's wings and glared at the masked creature across the field.

Taking in the new creature Yugi had summoned, Darcia began darkly chuckling and eventually broke out into a complete maniacal laugh. Finally calming down a bit, he smugly said "That is your big plan!? That thing has 0 attack and defense points! If you had wanted to lose, you should have said so Mr. Moto!"

"Looks can be deceiving." Yugi countered with a smirk. "And I'm about to show you just how dangerous Gandora truly is. First of all, Gandora can only stay on the field for one turn, but that's all I need."

"Pathetic Mr. Moto. That creature isn't even worth Heraklinos's time." Darcia snidely remarked.

Lightly chuckling, Yugi replied "We'll see how much of your time it's really worth. I activate Gandora's special ability. By paying half my life points, he can now destroy every card on the field except for himself."

Slightly gasping, Darcia's smug attitude slipped away as he slowly said with fear in his visibly in his voice "Wait, that means…"

"That means that Heraklinos and your other cards, along with my Big Shield Guardna, are about to go to the Graveyard, leaving only Gandora on the field." Yugi finished. "Gandora, release your full power! Thousand Giga Rays!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon's numerous red circles began glowing bright red. Pulling it's arms in and then thrusting them out while spreading it's wings, the dragon roared in louder as thousands of red beams shot out from the circles. Hundreds of the beams first struck the stadium the pair were standing in, destroying it instantly, while more struck the two face down card images, shattering them completely. Another large set struck the masked warrior, which howled out in pain while it's body was assaulted by the numerous beams. At long last, the masked warrior could take no more and shattered into millions of pixels. A moment later, the warrior with a big shield let out a groan before shattering from the beams that struck him. After the numerous explosions, smoke filled the field, clouding the two duelists' vision.

The smoke soon cleared, revealing only the dragon on the field. Growling loudly, Darcia snapped out "You may have destroyed my cards, but you can't win! I'll crush you in my next turn, so don't think this changes a thing!"

"You're wrong Darcia." Yugi replied with a small smirk. "Whenever Gandora uses his special ability, his secondary effect kicks in. You see, for every card he destroyed, he gains 300 attack points. By my last count, he destroyed five cards, with four being yours and one being mine, making him gain 1500 attack points (0 + 300 5 1500/0)!"

Eyes widening while watching the black dragon's body glow with a bright red aura, Darcia took a step backwards, whispering "No, it can't be…"

"This duel ends now Darcia!" Yugi declared. "Gandora, direct attack him with Destruction Wave!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dragon threw it's head back and opened it's jaws, causing bright red energy to begin filling them. Flinging it's head back forward while clenching it's clawed hands into tight fists, the dragon spat out a beam of bright red energy straight at Darcia. He released a loud scream of agony while the blast ground into him. At long last, the beam slacked up and revealed Darcia barely standing with steam rolling off his body and his robes smoldering.

In a weak mutter, he said "It can't be…"

"It's over Darcia." Yugi declared solemnly. "Your twisted plan failed. Now you will spend the remainder of eternity in the Shadows."

Taking a ragged breath while his body was beginning to turn into wisps of black energy, Darcia sneered and defiantly barked back "Even in my failure to destroy you, the power of the Orichalcos grows thanks to my own Duel Energy and soul. Soon, very soon, the stone shall once more be strong enough to conquer this world, and the Great Leviathan shall rise up again. You may have stopped me, but you can't stop the inevitable! I will live on within the great stone, so farewell Mr. Moto, till you are crushed!"

With one last maniacal laugh, the body of Darcia vanished, leaving only a heavily breathing Yugi to stare into nothingness. Watching his Duel Disk power down, he fell to one knee while trying to catch his breath.

"I stopped him, but this isn't over till this Lucifer is gone." Yugi remarked to himself. Weakly standing, he began reaching out with his Shadow Powers, trying to find any of his friends. Finding a familiar signal, he nodded his head and began walking off towards it, leaving the remains of the village he had been near behind himself.

--

Standing at the edge of a large clearing, Seto let out a heavy sigh. "_Over all these years, I've lived through so many horrific ordeals. First there was Pegasus, with him taking Mokuba captive and later taking his soul, along with my own. Then there was Marik, who tried to take over the world using the power of the Egyptian God Cards. Not long after his attempt at taking over the world, Dartz showed up and nearly ruined everything once again. Bakura not long after that began his bid for taking over the world, but in the end, he was laid to rest once more._"

Glancing up at the hazy sky, he mumbled in his mind "_All of those events were horrific, but this one is the worst yet. How could someone take a child that is less than a year old and hold her captive just to get her parents to come after her!?_"

Feeling his fists shaking in anger, he began to yell out to no one in particular when he suddenly heard a horrific shriek off in the distance. Feeling his blood freeze for a moment at the sound, he tried to analyze what the shriek belonged to, only to draw a blank. Several shouts and yells soon followed, intriguing him into what was going on.

Beginning to walk in the direction of noise, he soon found himself at the edge of another clearing with a small woods line shielding him from sight. Approaching, he heard the sound of clanking metal armor and the marching sound of an army. Reaching the edge of the tree line, he grumbled as a few tree limbs scratched his face slightly, but he pushed aside his irritation and brushed the branches out of his way.

Glancing out into the area, he saw that the clearing was actually a desert wasteland, filled with volcanic soil and dry vegetation. This didn't catch his attention as the sight of an army of around three hundred soldiers, all standing at nearly six feet tall, with all wearing black obsidian armor, with all wielding a weapon, whether it be a sword, a pike, a spear, or a bow with arrows, and all holding shields, with the archers having theirs on their back, with a skull symbol. All of the archers stood in the back, with all fingering their arrows and ready to release them.

Their opponent was a lone figure dressed in a tattered black robe, which revealed a black t-shirt underneath with tattered blue jeans. The figure's hair swayed slightly in the wind, which was long and brown, but was somewhat untamed due to the harsh elements of the world.

"VOLLEY!"

Turning away from the lone figure to the army, Seto instantly realized that one of the soldiers in the front of the army had shouted out the order. The archers immediately raised their bows and all released their arrows, sending them raining down towards the solemn figure. With only a mere six inches till striking the lone figure, the figure raised a hand and sent a wave of black energy at the arrows, causing each and every arrow to shatter in mid-air and fall to the ground in numerous splintered pieces.

Shifting uneasily, the army began to back up slightly. None had ever seen such a feat before, so none were sure how to deal with this.

Noting the lone figure's body was beginning to glow with a black aura, Seto's eyes narrowed on him. "_He's using Shadow Magic! Could he be the one that kidnapped Arya!?_"

Lowly growling while his fist tightened, he mentally made his mind up. "_Once this guy is done with those weaklings, I'll deal with him myself._"

Hearing a slight chuckle, Seto was awoken from his thoughts to see the man's aura was growing darker by the second. Without warning, the aura suddenly surged outwards like an explosion, tearing anything up in it's path.

Eyes widening when he realized the blast would reach him also, Seto quickly called up his own Shadow Powers and formed a barrier around his body. The wave of Shadow Magic slammed hard into his barrier, making him gasp out in shock and surprise as he felt his barrier wavering under the intense power that this person's blast had. At long last, his barrier and himself were thrust off of the ground and thrown back up against a nearby tree, with his barrier taking most of the impact. Immediately, several branches fell out of the tree and on top of him, covering him up completely.

After five minutes, the blast finally subsided, allowing him a chance to begin clawing his way out of the branches. Unable to do so, he growled in frustration and shot a blast of Shadow Magic up through the branches, allowing him to free himself at long last.

Taking stock of his body, he found he had a few cuts and bruises, but that was all the damage he seemed to have. Relieved he was alright, Seto returned to the edge of the tree line to only find something that chilled him to his core.

Before him was the scene of something that reminded him of his past life, in which he had witnessed the rampage of the Egyptian Gods. The barren wasteland was more desolate than before, with the ground plowed up from where the aura had been before, creating a small crater that was only five feet deep and was easily the length of two football fields now filling the area.

Glancing around, Seto couldn't suppress a gasp of complete shock when he realized that all of the soldiers that had been there were now gone. There was absolutely no trace of them, not even a shred of scrap metal from their armor. It was like none of them had ever been there.

Eyes widening, he saw that even though all the damage had been done, the figure the army had been attacking was still standing perfectly still in the spot where he had been before his display of power. He seemed completely unharmed, as if nothing had happened at all.

Sweat instantly slid down the side of Seto's face while his eyes focused on the figure. "_If he could easily do this much damage, what chance do I stand against him!?_"

"_No! I can't back down! I'm Seto Kaiba, one of the original Shadow Court, and one of the remaining people on Earth with Shadow Powers! Whoever this person is could have taken Arya, so I must confront them and get her back, no matter what the cost is! She is precious to Illidan and Marie, meaning I can't afford to allow fear to control me now!_"

Gathering all of his courage up, Seto began striding towards the lone figure. With only fifteen feet separating the pair, a low chuckle began filling the air, sending shivers up Seto's spine. Not giving into his fleeing thoughts, he continued onwards till the figure began speaking, which brought him to a dead stop.

"I didn't expect to meet you again, Seto." a cold voice called out with a touch of insanity mixed into it.

Eyes widening, Seto mumbled in his mind "_I know that voice! But it can't be!_"

"Illidan…" he whispered while trying to find more words. After a moment, he barely managed to say "I… I… I don't believe it."

Turning to face Seto completely, the figure revealed his identity. His normal dark brown eyes that held calmness and serenity were now red and full of malice and evil, while his normal soft features were now darkened and hardened.

With an evil grin plastered on his face, the figure replied "You better believe it."

"I'm going to count to five, and if you wish to not to fight with me, you had better turn and leave. If you're not leaving, I will not hesitate to take you out. I have a mission, and nothing, not even a former friend, will stand in my way."

In complete shock, Seto growled out "What's wrong with you, Illidan!?"

Coolly, Illidan replied in a low whisper "I'm warning you, leave now, unless you plan on obstructing me. Do so and you shall pay with your life."

"I don't want to do this Illidan." Seto remarked while trying to calm his anger.

Receiving his answer, the wild brown haired man raised his right hand to face Seto with black energy forming into a sphere in his palm. Grinning evilly once more, Illidan released the sphere of black energy straight at the man in his white trench coat. Shaking himself of his shock that his friend was firing a blast of Shadow Magic at him, Seto readied himself and pulled back his right hand. Pushing his Shadow Magic into his own right hand, he fired the fist forward, slamming it heavily into the sphere of Shadow Magic.

Instantly, he felt his fist straining against the power of the sphere, for it was far more powerful than he originally thought it would be. "_I can barely hold this thing back. This kind of power, he never had it before! The only person I've seen have this much power before was Marie, and that's when she unleashed her hidden powers. Is it possible he's reached that level?_"

Refocusing on the task before him, Seto pushed more power into his fist, allowing him to finally throw the sphere back at Illidan's feet, causing a hole the size of a bookshelf to form in the ground. Panting lightly, he glanced at his right hand, finding it smoldering and somewhat raw from the sheer force it had taken to stop the attack.

Angry, he yelled out "Illidan, what is wrong with you!? We're friends, why are you doing this!?"

"NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ME!" Illidan yelled back while forming another sphere within his right hand. "MY EYES HAVE BEEN OPENED! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH! ONLY I CAN STOP THIS EVIL, BUT IDIOTS LIKE YOU CONTINUE TO OBSTRUCT ME FROM MY GOAL!"

Watching Illidan release a sphere of energy, Seto realized it would be far better for him to dodge the attack than to try and block it like before. Rolling out of the way, he heard an explosion. Getting up, he saw that the trees behind where he had once stood were now ablaze.

"_I can't beat him by myself! Hell, do I even want to beat him!? If he stays as he is, he's more of a danger to himself and anyone else that comes into contact with him than if I try to stop him. I'll just have to deal with him, somehow._" Seto grumbled within his mind.

Getting an idea, he reached for his deck and drew the top card and turned it towards Illidan. Calling out in a booming voice, he yelled "Come on out Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Materializing in mid-air instantly was a white metallic looking dragon, with blue eyes, powerful clawed hands and feet, a long white tail, mighty wings, and short arms. Letting out a might roar, the dragon hovered above Seto while casting a glare towards Illidan.

Chuckling darkly, Illidan smugly remarked "That pathetic lizard is no match for me alone. Return it now before I crush it."

Receiving a no response from Seto's shaking head, Illidan lightly grunted and said "I see, well then, I shall crush your pathetic lizard with my own. Reveal yourself, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End!"

Immediately appearing in midair above Illidan was a large black dragon with an orange mane, sharp clawed hands and feet, a large set of wings, and powerful tail. Releasing a roar, the dragon lowered itself just above it's master.

"Now then, you useless animal, crush his pathetic iguana with Chaos Blaster!"

The black dragon only remained airborne, not seemingly responding in the least to the command issued to it. Furious, Illidan turned a fierce glare towards the black dragon, yelling "You heard me! I ordered you to destroy that dragon!"

Glancing between the white dragon and it's master, the black dragon let out a remorseful roar and landed onto the ground next to it's master. In a remorseful, bitter tone, the dragon quietly said "_Master Illidan, I cannot obey your command. Seto Kaiba has been a long time friend and ally, in the present and in the past. Why would you dare ask me to do any harm to him or his dragon?_"

"DO NOT QUESTION ME!" Illidan snarled with anger flashing from his eyes, causing the dragon to wince visibly. "I AM YOUR MASTER, AND YOU ARE MY SERVANT! OBEY ME!"

Looking down at the ground and away from it's master, the dragon let out a light whimper. Surprised at the turn of events, Seto felt sadness for the dragon for having to obey Illidan in his current state.

Angered further by the actions of his dragon, Illidan heatedly yelled out "Fine, if you wish to defy me, you will pay a horrible price for it!"

Stretching his right arm out fully towards the ground while grasping hold of his right wrist with his left hand and hunching over, Illidan grunted out "SHADOW BLADE!"

Hearing a loud crackling sound of Shadow Magic, Seto's eyes widened a fraction while he mumbled to himself "I remember that… But he wouldn't use that on his dragon, would he?"

Black sparks of Shadow Magic began crackling underneath of Illidan right hand while he held it in a claw shape. Growling lowly while the energy continued to build in his hand, he raised himself up while the black energy began forming into a four foot blade extending from his arm that began at his wrist. Streaks of black electricity struck the ground from the blade while the air was filled with the sound of the electricity coursing up and down his arm.

"DIE!" he cried out while rushing towards the dragon. Looking at it's master with sad yellow eyes, the dragon made no attempt to move. Without hesitation, the dragon's master cruelly plunged the blade deep into the dragon's chest, puncturing it's heart easily. The huge wyvern howled in pain while it reared up and fell over onto it's side. Illidan stayed with the dragon, keeping the blade deeply nestled within the dragon's heart.

"STOP THIS ILLIDAN! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Seto screamed with anger seething out of his body.

Casting a glare back at Seto, Illidan coldly replied "This dragon is the one that disobeyed me. I have no use for weaklings who cannot follow simple orders."

Jerking the black energy blade out of the chest of the dragon, Illidan slid backwards five feet while the dragon wailed from the pain of the blade leaving it's body. With blood running out of it's maw, the dragon whispered "_Master… Illidan… please, don't do… this…_"

Glaring fiercely at the dragon, Illidan moved closer and kicked the dragon's head hard with his foot, making it whimper out in pain. Reaching the dragon's chest once more, Illidan growled out "What gives you the right to order me when you fail to obey my commands!?"

With his words said, he buried the black blade back into the dragon, making it shriek out in pain once more. Staring down at the one it called master, the dragon's pained yellow eyes met the red ones of Illidan. The dragon could have easily snapped it's jaws around it's master, but choose not to.

In a faint whisper, the dragon said "_Please…_"

Before it could finish though, the dragon turned into millions of tiny pixels, leaving only Illidan, Seto, and the large white dragon hovering overhead of it's own master.

Turning towards Seto while his black energy blade vanished, Illidan coldly said "That is your fate now, Seto Kaiba. You should have left me be, but instead, you choose to challenge me. It was nothing but foolishness, for now you shall die a horrific death."

Staring right into Seto's eyes, Illidan smiled evilly, sending a small chill up Kaiba's back while he added "I can see into the depths of your heart, Seto Kaiba. It has always been your desire to defeat Yugi Moto and myself, yet you have yet to accomplish that goal. The façade of fake grudging friendship that you've put up for all these years, it's so easy to see through it. I know things about you, Kaiba, that you yourself won't even admit."

In a flash, Seto was less than three feet away from Illidan with anger pouring out of his body. With all his might, he slammed a heavy right fist into the wild haired duelist's face, sending the wild haired duelist nearly off his feet, but he managed to steady himself and block a second punch incoming for him.

"WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU!?" Seto demanded angrily while spinning around to deliver a roundhouse kick with his left leg to Illidan's right arm.

The kick effectively pinned the wild haired duelist's arm to his ribs, but the force that was in the kick was not enough to harm the arm, but did manage to make his ribs crackle a little. This caught the attention of the wild haired duelist instantly, and in a single, graceful movement, he knocked the kick away and reached out, grabbing hold of Seto by the throat and hauling him into the air.

Roaring loudly from the air, the white dragon began building up white energy within it's jaws and readied itself for an attack till Illidan turned towards the dragon with it's master in hand and moved him so that he was shielding Illidan. "If you try any of that nonsense, your master will most assuredly die."

Seeing that the wild haired duelist was not lying while the hand on it's master's throat tightened, effectively cutting off more of his air supply, the dragon paused, allowing the white energy to dissipate into nothingness.

Returning his full attention to the duelist in his hand, Illidan coldly said "You should never have confronted me by yourself, Seto. Once I'm done with you, I will track down Lucifer and crush him completely till nothing is left. Upon doing that, I shall free my daughter from his clutches."

"If you had heeded my command earlier, you wouldn't have lost your life for no reason. I would have left you alone if you had left. Anyone who gets in my way shall fall if they do not move, so just remember when I finish killing you, that it was your own fault for dying."

"In my kingdom, no one will kill unless it is me, Illidan."


	39. Chapter 38: Chaos vs Light and Dark, P1

**Hey gang! First off, I'm so sorry for not posting last week. I was extremely busy all last week and had no time at all to prepare the chapter for posting, so I apologize for that. I finally got time Friday night, but didn't post. The reason was I was still swamped with lots of things, plus I went to my grandparents' house for the evening. Time I got back, I was wiped out. Then Saturday, my dad kept me busy and that evening I went to town with my mate to get groceries. Anyways, I'm so sorry for not posting. Life has just been hectic, especially at work, so I have like nearly no time to post or work on my stories. I apologize heavily for that. I had not anticipated being this busy, and it doesn't look like it'll get any better for the next two weeks, at least. I'll try and get free to post, but I can't make no promises. I will try though to post on time from here on, but again, no promises. Till then, bear with me if I do miss another posting date.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Heh, glad you liked the surprising chapter. Yep, Yugi won and the conflict between Illidan and Seto has just begun, with someone else seemingly entering that fray. I don't know if they'll ever air episode 156 and the final season of GX. It's rather irritating that they stopped on 156. I mean, it was the last freaking episode of season 3, why bother!? I would think they'd stop after 156 if they were going to. It seems more logical. I've not watched 5D yet, but from what I saw of it, no thanks. Too weird to put them on motorcycles and have them duel. Just stick to a Duel Disk, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Heh, true, Illidan seems to be quite evil. As for the mistakes, a few were my listing of the cards, lol. Yugi had one face down before the chapter began. That was his Quick Summon card, while the other was his Magnet Reverse spell that he set at the beginning of that turn. Actually, the Electromagnetic Turtle wasn't a cheat to get it in there. That was the card left in Yugi's hand when Darcia played his Dark World Dealings card. True, it doesn't go with the theme that Darcia has, but it was all I had at the time, lol. It was that or some other card that forced them to discard. True, I didn't think about Heraklinos being just a fusion, so the field spell wouldn't have gotten stronger. My bad there. Heh, no, Seto found someone worse than Lucifer possibly at the moment in the form of Illidan. Lol, never know, but someone showed up at the end of that little fight. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I appreciate both of them.**

**Anyways, I should have another chapter next week, so I'll try to keep on schedule from here on, but no promises. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 38**

Before Illidan could say a word or turn to face the person who had said their words, a sphere of black Shadow Magic slammed into his back, breaking his grip on Seto's neck and forcing him to lurch forward and nearly fall over. Growling lowly, he regained his footing and angrily turned back to face the person who had struck him, finding a person in black and gold armor, wearing a black cape with red interior and a helmet on his head. The figure had dark golden eyes, with evil itself seemingly pouring out of them.

Smirking slightly, Illidan silkily said "Jaden, what a nice surprise for you to join us."

Gasping lightly while inhaling fresh air, Seto glanced up and noted the new figure. "_Is it possible!? That's the kid's name that Illidan said was his descendant from his ancient family. Is it possible he turned to the darkness as well!? Great, now I have two opponents possibly._"

"Actually, my name is Haou." the Supreme King corrected. "I see you've given yourself to the darkness."

Sneering, Illidan confidently replied "Indeed, for it has opened up so many possibilities."

"But with it, you seemed to have sacrificed all that you held precious." Haou remarked while folding his arms across his chest. "My army will be here soon. Either you can be eliminated by me now, or you can allow them to take your prisoner. They will kill you in a far more merciful manner."

Weakly getting up while rubbing his sore throat, Seto called out in a raspy voice "I don't know why you're dressed up like that Jaden, but I don't care. Still, you should know, your army was just destroyed by Illidan."

Casting a fierce look at Seto, Haou smartly said "Seto Kaiba, you too have invaded my kingdom, thus you will perish also."

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Illidan roared loudly, making both of the others glance back at him. "You have only a few seconds to move out of my way, both of you, or I'll kill you both where you stand!"

A moment of silence filled the air before Illidan let out a battle cry and leapt into the air, screaming "Should have moved! Now you both die!"

Coming down fast and reaching Haou, he launched a fist forward, connecting with the Supreme King's face and knocking him off balance. Spinning around, Illidan attempted to deliver a powerful blow to Haou's ribs, only to have his foot barely be caught by Haou's gloved hand and pushed away.

Slowly pacing around a kneeling Illidan who eyed Haou intently, the Supreme King smirked and mumbled in his mind "_You have become powerful, Illidan._"

Watching Haou pace around Illidan, Seto lowly growled to himself. "_I have no idea if I can trust Jaden now. He seems to want to fight Illidan. Perhaps I should let him._"

Shaking his head, he answered "_No, I can't. He might beat Illidan, and then I'll be in a fine mess. I have to bring Illidan back to his senses somehow, otherwise he'll get himself destroyed or worse, destroy someone._"

Leaping forward once more, Illidan swung a heavy fist at Haou. At the last moment, the Supreme King sidestepped the attack and raised a hand. Black energy began swirling within his hand till it took the form of a sphere. With his sphere formed, he slammed it up against Illidan's chest, sending him sliding backwards with the sphere trying to destroy his body.

Coming to a stop five feet away upon digging his heels in, Illidan cruelly smirked and reached out to the sphere and knocked it away, sending debris flying into the air from the force of the impact.

Grimacing in his mind at this, Haou mumbled in the back of his consciousness "_I put so much energy into that attack. He shouldn't have been able to stop my attack with such ease. This is absurd! It's like he's not even trying yet._"

"Since you two seem to not like listening to reason, I say we finish this in a civilized manner." Illidan spoke up with an evil grin plastered on his face. "We shall have a Shadow Game. The two of you shall team up against me. Should you two win, I shall leave you be and leave this so called kingdom of yours forever. However, when you two lose, I get your souls and shall take your power to feed my own."

With a glare, Haou harshly replied "Very well, but I would much prefer it that the same clause applied to you losing as well."

Shrugging, Illidan replied "It is unlikely that either of you two will win. I suppose the stakes are fair then. The winner shall choose the loser or losers' fate."

"Illidan, you don't want to …" Seto began, but was cut off by Illidan saying "I know what I wish to do, and that is to rescue my daughter, and to do that, I will destroy anyone, friend or foe, that gets in my way."

Growling lowly, Seto fiercely shot back "If that's the way you feel, then so be it! I'll save you, so don't give up hope! Blue-Eyes, return!"

The white dragon let out a small roar before vanishing completely. Smirking, Illidan snidely remarked "Hope is for the weak."

Extending his left arm, a black pulse of Shadow Magic appeared while a black Duel Disk formed on his wrist. Pulling a deck out of a battered deck holder, he shuffled the cards and jammed them roughly into the deck slot, causing the Duel Disk to power up and push out it's arm and extend itself.

Both Seto and Haou held out their own left arms, with each retrieving their decks. Seto's Duel Disk was pearly white in color, with a tinge of sky blue mixed in. The deck slot had a white dragon head with it's jaws containing the deck. Near Seto, Haou's saw blade like Duel Disk whirled to life and finally came to rest as one piece. Both placed their respective decks into their slots, causing both Duel Disks to power up.

"Since it is two on one, we shall give you a life point handicap." Haou smugly remarked.

Casting a fierce glare at the Supreme King, Illidan growled out "I don't need more points."

"Regardless of whether you need them or not, you get them." Haou firmly remarked while Illidan's Duel Disk's life point counter increased.

Glancing at his partner, Seto fiercely remarked "I wouldn't test him. You have no idea just how strong he truly is now. After all, he took out your entire army without breaking a sweat."

"Perhaps you are right, or perhaps you are wrong and you're just afraid of him." Haou coolly responded with a cold smile. "Either way, I don't care. I'm only concerned with winning this duel and gaining his power. And don't expect me to protect you, for I have little patience and do not expect you to protect me either. Now just stay out of my way."

"If you two are done yet, I have a debt to collect." Illidan spoke up with anger flaring in his voice. "You two have delayed me for far too long, so let's do this."

"Very well, let's see how powerful you have become, my old teacher." Haou smugly commented. "Take the first move."

All three drew five new cards, with all calling out "Duel!"

Drawing his sixth card, Illidan slapped it horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I set this monster and one card face down. That completes my turn. Come Seto, let's see what you can do. I expect something great, after all these years of dueling with you." (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 8000)

Picking up a new card, Seto glanced it over before saying "You want a powerful move, well careful what you ask for! I summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field within a moment was an olive skinned ogre wielding an axe like spear in black leather.

"Since I can't attack this turn due that this is two versus one, I set one card and end my turn. And now, it's time for my partner to pick up where I left off!" (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 8000)

Ignoring Seto's words, Haou drew his top card and examined it for a moment before placing it silently onto his Duel Disk horizontally. "I play Elemental Hero Wildheart (1500/1600) in defense."

Appearing onto the field with a soft battle cry was a tall tanned warrior with multiple red tattooed stripes on his body with long black hair held back in a ponytail and wearing a simple cream colored loin cloth with a large sword in a wooden sheath on his back. Crouching into a kneeling position, the warrior crossed his arms and sat down upon a horizontal card image.

"_Playing defense is not my style, but with Illidan's strategy unknown to me, it's best to play it safe for this turn._" Haou mentally noted. "End turn." (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 8000)

Snapping off his new card, Illidan sneered and slapped the card onto his Duel Disk while placing the other monster he had into his Graveyard Slot. "I sacrifice my face down monster to summon Darknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

Immediately, the horizontal card image on the field vanished, and taking it's place was a purple glowing black and purple half angel, half horse creature. The horse half of the creature had black fur with purple guards on it's legs, while the half angel half had a black set of wings rolling down it's back, with long orange hair, wearing purple armor with a purple gauntlet attached to it's right arm with a silver blade protruding from it, a silver shield with orange wings hanging off the sides of it, and a purple helmet with wings sticking out the sides of it. Upon fully appearing, the angel let out a crazed yell while swinging his sword like lance into ready position.

Frowning, Seto challengingly questioned "Only nineteen-hundred attack points and it required a single tribute?"

"Very perceptive of you, Seto." Illidan remarked with a smirk. "My monster has a very special ability. For every Dark Attribute monster in my Graveyard, he gains 100 attack points. I just sacrificed Chthonian Soldier to summon him, meaning Darknight gains 100 more attack points (1900 + 100 2000/1400)."

Pointing at the tanned warrior, Illidan called out "Darknight, crush Wildheart with Dark Mystic Blade!"

Racing across the field at a quick gallop, the half angel and half horse creature reached the tanned warrior quickly. Pulling back it's sword like arm, the angel slashed through the tanned warrior without hesitation, making the warrior howl in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

Smirking at the damage he had done, Illidan smoothly said "Since Darknight just destroyed a monster, by removing a Dark Attribute monster from my Graveyard, I can draw one new card. I remove Chthonian Soldier for this effect (1900/1400)."

Picking up a new card, he examined it for a moment before selecting another card from his hand and placing the two into two empty Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these two cards. Now then, it's your move, Seto." (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 8000)

Slowly drawing his new card, Seto examined it for a moment before confidently smirking and saying "Not bad Illidan, but watch this! I summon my powerful X-Head Cannon (1800/1500)!"

Materializing immediately onto the field beside of the olive ogre was a yellow and blue machine creature. It had a pair of cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest, with an orb for a bottom instead of feet, and a pair of strong robotic arms.

"Next I equip Vorse Raider with the equip spell known as Axe of Despair! This raises his attack points by 1000 (1900 + 1000 2900/1200)!"

Appearing before the olive ogre was a strangely curved wooden axe with a red aura emanating from it. Tossing his lance to the ground, he reached out and took hold of the axe, causing his body to glow with a red aura as well and pulled it into an attack position.

"Crush his Darknight with Despairing Slash!"

Racing across the field with his axe held out from it's body, the ogre creature let out a feral roar while charging the purple and black creature. Before the ogre could reach it's target, a totem pole suddenly materialized in front of the half angel, half horse creature. The top carving of a bird shot two wings out and a loud screeching sound filled the air, forcing the ogre to back up while holding it's head.

"Not quite there Seto, I activate my face down spell, Command Silencer." Illidan smugly said. "With it, your attack is negated, plus I draw one new card."

Growling lowly while watching Illidan draw a card, Seto grunted out "I end my turn." (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 8000)

Snapping off his top card, Haou glanced at it with a disinterested look. Turning it towards Illidan, he said "Dark Fusion, activate!"

"Dark Fusion?" Seto asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Ignoring Seto, Haou took two cards from his hand and showed them to his opponent and smoothly said "This spell allows me to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Burstinatrix (1200/800) from my hand to create Evil Hero Inferno Wing (2100/1200)."

Materializing onto the field first was a green furred warrior with white wings coming out of his back and wearing a mask. Beside of him, a female warrior wearing a skin tight red jumpsuit with long black fan like hair emerged. The two swirled together, causing an inferno to suddenly appear.

Emerging from the flames was a black winged female warrior and long wild green hair that stood up. She wore a mostly red body suit, with a pair of silver stripes appearing at her mid-thigh, a pair of black boots with two clawed toenails, large green paws with four sharp claws, although her human like fingers tuck out of the bottom of the claws, a red trailing like cape falling from her lower back, and finally a blue visor covering most of her face but her mouth.

"I see, a darker version of the Flame Wingman." Illidan coldly remarked.

Not even bothering to respond to his challenger's comment, Haou calmly said "Inferno Wing, destroy his pathetic Darknight with Infernal Flame!"

Evilly smiling, the female creature raised it's large clawed hands, causing green flames to form within them. Without hesitation, she cast them towards the weaker half angel, half horse creature with a wicked grin on her face.

"Foolish mistake Haou." Illidan commented. "I activate my trap card…"

"You are the fool, Illidan." Haou interrupted. "On the turn that Dark Fusion is activated, any spell, trap, or monster effects that target my fused monster are negated. "

Evilly smirking once more, Illidan replied "You're a bigger fool than you look. I never said my trap targeted your monster, or any monster for that matter. My trap, Mine Blasting, forces me to send the top five cards in my deck to my Graveyard, but during my next turn, I must skip the Draw Phase."

Looking on in confusion while Illidan selected the top five cards from his deck and shoved them into his Graveyard Slot, Seto mumbled in his mind "_That move made absolutely no sense! His monster is still weaker than Haou's, so why bother tossing out five cards from his deck!?_"

Watching the flames continue on towards the black and purple angel creature, Haou sneered when the flames encircled it and a sea of flames exploded around it. His smile was quickly replaced with a heavy frown upon seeing the black and purple angel creature was still standing with no damage and a dark purple aura flaring around it's body.

"What is the meaning of this Illidan?" Haou questioned with a hint of irritation.

Still smirking, Illidan calmly replied "It's rather simple, Haou. Remember, I sent five cards to my Graveyard just a moment ago. In those five cards were some Dark Attribute monsters."

Holding his left arm out while his Graveyard Slot glowed to life and pushed five cards out, Illidan held them up, showing the cards. "As you can clearly see, among those five cards were three Dark Attribute monsters. That automatically triggered Darknight's special effect. Since three new monsters were added, he gained 300 more attack points (1900 + 100 3 2200/1400), meaning he was stronger than your Inferno Wing. Counter with Dark Mystic Blade!"

Letting out a battle cry, the half angel, half horse creature raced across the field through the remainder of the green flames. Reaching the female creature with green hair, the angel slashed out at her, burying her silver blade deeply into her body, making the creature scream out before exploding into millions of pixels.

"Since Darknight destroyed another monster, I'll remove from play my D.D. Survivor in my Graveyard to draw one card (2100/1400)."

Glaring at Illidan while he drew his card, Haou picked up a card and slid it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot and muttered "I set this and end." (Illidan 16000; Seto 8000, Haou 7900)

"Since I used Mine Blasting last turn, I cannot draw a card." Illidan informed. "Still, I activate this spell, Allure of Darkness. I can now draw two new cards, but once I'm done, I must send a Dark Attribute monster from my hand to the removed from play pile. Should I not, I must discard my entire hand."

Picking up two cards, Illidan placed them into his left hand and selected another card wordlessly. "I remove from play this, The Dark Creator, who is most definitely a Dark Attribute monster."

Placing the card into his removed from play slot, he added "And now, I activate face down trap, Ultimate Offering. With this, I may pay 500 life points to have an extra Normal Summon. With that, I pay 500 life points to summon Armageddon Knight (1400/1200)!"

Slowly materializing onto the field was a tall tan warrior with jet black hair, with a red cape draped over his back that came around to the front of his face and covered it up to his nose, and a pair of silver glasses covering his eyes. He wore thick set of chain-mail like armor on his chest, with metallic like pants and a gray handled sword in hand.

"Once this monster is summoned, I am allowed to discard one Dark Attribute monster from my deck to the Grave."

Pulling his deck out, Illidan searched it for a moment before selecting a card and showing it to the others. "I send Vampire's Curse to the Graveyard."

Shuffling his deck, he returned it back to it's slot and smirked. "I again activate Ultimate Offering, so I pay another 500 life points in order to summon the mighty Dark Crusader (1600/200)!"

While Illidan's body glowed with a light red aura as his life points drained, black smog appeared onto the field. From the smog, a figure in black leather armor with a red tattered cape, spikes jutting out from his knees and upper arms, a large halberd black sword with silver blades, and a skull like head with red hair on top of it. The creature let out a small demonic laugh while glaring at it's opponents with red eyes.

"With this new creature, I may send a Dark monster from my hand to the Graveyard to raise his attack points by 400 points. Oh, and just so you know, I can reuse this throughout my turn, and it doesn't lose any of it's points once my turn is over."

"NO WAY!" Seto declared while sweat slid down his face. "_That means he can keep powering that thing up till it can tear either of us apart._"

Smirking at Seto, Illidan smugly replied "But yes way. I begin now by sending this, my Apprentice Magician, to the Graveyard (1600 + 400 2000/200)."

With the monster card being sucked into it's master's Graveyard Slot, the demonic like warrior let out a laugh while his power increased.

"Since I now have more than four Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard, I can now sacrifice Armageddon Knight in order to summon Darklord Zerato (2800/2300)."

Vanishing from the field in a flash was the weaker warrior creature, only to be replaced by a gray skinned muscular warrior wearing a red loin cloth and guards on his calves and arms up to his elbows. On the creature's back were a pair of red skinned wings that formed a collar around his neck, and on his head was a red helmet with black horns coming out the sides of it. In his left hand was a powerful sword with jagged edges on the backside of the blade.

"Hold on, that monster requires two sacrifices!" Seto declared angrily.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan nodded, saying "Normally, you'd be right Seto, but due to his special ability, you're wrong. When I have four or more Dark monsters in my Graveyard with different names, I can summon Zerato with only one Dark monster sacrifice. And speaking of Zerato, it's time I activate his special ability! By sending a Dark monster to the Grave, I can destroy all monsters on your two's field. I send another Apprentice Magician to the Graveyard, so say farewell to your monsters Seto."

Upon the card entering Illidan's Graveyard Slot, the red winged creature let out a loud scream and spread both wings out. Both glowed with a red glow for a moment before thousands of needle like blasts came pouring out and struck the olive ogre and blue and yellow machine creature, destroying both instantly.

"Too bad Seto, you can't return Axe of Despair back to the top of your deck since you have no monsters. Not to worry though, it wouldn't have helped." Illidan snidely remarked, earning him a glare from both his opponents. "Since I now have six monsters in my Grave, Darknight gains 600 attack points (2500/1400)."

Watching his half angel, half horse creature's body glow with a dark aura, Illidan cast a glare upon his two opponents. "Now I have amassed three monsters with 2000 or more attack points each. The question is, who do I attack? Whoever I strike will lose nearly all of their life points."

Lazily pointing a finger in both duelists direction, he began pointing between the two till finally it landed in the direction of Haou, who did not say a word but still showed a sign of annoyance with a slight tightening of his jaw.

"Yes, you have annoyed me for long enough. I will have revenge for that embarrassing loss you handed to me last year. You will have nearly no life points after this, meaning you will be an easy target for me once it is my turn once more. Now attack my monsters!"

Taking to the air, the red winged warrior raised his sword in preparation for an attack while the black angel and horse combination creature galloped forward. The lone demonic warrior began racing forward himself with his halberd on his shoulder, but nonetheless ready to swing.

In a flat tone, Haou said "Unacceptable. I reveal the trap Negate Attack, which simply cancels out your attacks and ends your Battle Phase."

Out of nowhere, a black swirling hole appeared before the three creatures, forcing all three to come to a screeching halt. The three thought for a moment on their next move and finally retreated to the safety of Illidan's field.

Letting out a small growl of frustration, Illidan slightly chuckled and said "You may have escaped my monsters' wrath for this turn, but you and your pathetic heroes will fall at my hands. I move to my End Phase, in which Zerato's effect kicks in. During the turn that he used his special ability, he goes to the Graveyard (2600/1400)."

Grabbing his head while howling in pain, the red winged creature fell to his knees before letting out one last howl. Upon doing so, he shattered into millions of pieces, leaving only the other two creatures behind.

"I'm done for now." (Illidan 15000; Seto 8000, Haou 7900)

Drawing a new card, Seto glanced at it and smirked. "I activate the spell Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Picking up two new cards, he once more smirked. Selecting one of his new cards, he turned it towards Illidan, saying "I'll begin things by activating my Silent Doom spell card! This allows me to revive my X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in defense!"

Rematerializing onto the field in a defensive stance was the blue and yellow machine creature with two large cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest.

"Next I summon my Y-Dragon Head (1500/1600) to the field!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash of golden light was a red machine dragon that let out a low mechanical roar. The machine dragon spread it's red wings, displaying a large but impressive wingspan.

"I'm not through, for I activate another spell, Quick Summon! This allows me to have another Normal Summon, so I play Z-Metal Tank (1500/1300)!"

With a light glow of energy, a blue and yellow tank with thick black treads appeared onto the field with a small mechanical groan.

Lightly grunting, Illidan remarked "I see what you're up to now."

"That's right Illidan, you do, so watch as I combine my three machines to create an unstoppable machine creature! X-Head Cannon, Y-Dragon Head, and Z-Metal Tank, combine to form XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)!"

All three machine creatures instantly fired their thrusters, sending them skyward. The sphere on the bottom of the blue and yellow robot creature began rapidly spinning while the wings on the red dragon broke off and a small port on it's back opened. The two slowly linked up together, forming a bond. Slowly, the two lowered till they were on top of the blue and yellow tank and finished syncing up together. The new machine creature soon landed onto the field and let out a mechanical moan.

"Time for me to take revenge for the loss of Vorse Raider! XYZ-Dragon Cannon, blast his Darknight Parshath with Cannon Burst!"

Aiming it's twin barrels at the half horse, half angel creature, the tank creature opened up a set of guns on it's lower third of it's body, exposing another set of cannon barrels. All of the barrels instantly began glowing with life while yellow energy began filling the barrels to the brim. In a flash, the barrels released their blasts and scored a direct hit on the half horse, half angel creature, who screamed out in pain before shattering into millions of pieces.

Receiving no comment or grunts of pain from his opponent, Seto smirked and smoothly said "I end my turn at that." (Illidan 14700; Seto 8000, Haou 7900)

Preparing to pick up a card, Haou stopped and coldly said "Before I begin, I activate your trap Illidan. I pay 500 life points in order to summon this to my field, my Phantom Gunner (1100/800)."

With a light black glow, a creature with blue skin wings, with green skin and stick like arms with three fingered hands and short legs with two toes, an ugly face, and a red circle on it's hunched over back that appeared to be made of flesh materialized.

"When Phantom Gunner is summoned, I can special summon Gunner Tokens (500/500) to my field for each monster I control. Since I just have one, I get one Gunner Token."

Appearing beside of it's comrade was a small look alike of the blue winged creature, with a small difference in the color schemes, with it's wings being green and it's body being blue.

"Now then, I draw."

Picking up his new card, Haou pointed at his two creatures, saying "During my Standby Phase, my creature's special ability activates. It deals you 300 points of direct damage for itself and each Gunner Token I have. That means you take 600 points of direct damage, right now."

Aiming the circles on their backs at Illidan, a cannon came out of each of their backs. A moment passed and a small sphere of energy fired from each creature's cannon. The twin blasts struck Illidan head on, but he showed no signs of damage while standing strong.

"Next, I sacrifice my Gunner Token to summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800)."

Vanishing from the field in a small flash was the smaller double ganger of the blue winged creature. Replacing him instantly was a tall, thin warrior with skin tight black armor, adorned with many spikes. The creature wore a dark blue helmet over it's face, with exception of it's mouth being hidden. On his hands, there were sharp spikes, three on each hand, sticking out, and on his back were a pair of blade like wings.

Noting the frown on Illidan's face, Haou blandly said "Whenever you have a monster on the field, I can summon Malicious Edge with one sacrifice. Now then, Malicious Edge, cut down his pathetic Dark Crusader with Needle Burst!"

With an evil smirk, the black leathered warrior leapt into the air and brought it's arms in close to it's body. Swinging them out, he threw all of his needles straight at the weaker demonic creature, which tried to shield itself with it's halberd, only to have the needles slide through the halberd. The needles instantly pierced through the creature, making it scream out inhumanly before exploding.

"Since you have nothing to protect yourself with now, I direct attack with Phantom Gunner!"

Pushing it's cannon out of the fleshy hole once more, the small creature released a beam of red energy straight at Illidan. The blast hit hard, making him growl out in pain while wisps of smoke poured off his body.

"End turn." (Illidan 13000; Seto 8000, Haou 7400)


	40. Chapter 39: Chaos vs Light and Dark, P2

**Hey gang! Well, the past few weeks have been relatively stressful. Work is a mad rush to finish our current project, which is due to come out in another week or two. We're nearly done, but there seems to be so much to do still. Ack, it's just crazy, but we're getting there, thankfully. Besides that, life is about as busy as ever.**

**Writing wise, I'm trying to find time to work on my stories, but it's difficult still. I worked on **_**Another**_** this week due that I finished working on this chapter last week. Still, I have much to do on both stories, but little time to do it in. (/Sighs\) Never again will I do 2 stories at once, lol. Too much work.**

**Moving along, it's time for the best part, the reviews!**

**Supreme King Haou: Glad you like this fic, and that you read all of my other three stories leading up to this one. Thank you for your comments about my stories. Yes, things are shaping up to get a lot more complicated with a power struggle between all three titans it seems. Haou does seem to be talking a bit more in my story. I guess I'm thinking more of when Jaden was using Haou's power against Yubel, where he was talking a lot more than the Supreme King was. Thanks for your comments, I truly appreciate it, and your review!**

**Sun angel and Earth Angel: Thanks for your review, and adding me to your fav stories and authors list.**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yep, wonderful times, hehe. And yeah, the corrupted monsters have made their appearance, with Illidan backing up his boasting and taunts, plus some. Heh, Lucifer has surprises of his own, so don't count him out yet. You just never know what he may have. True, Illidan's opponents have yet to get their A game on, but at the same time, it's hard to compete with creatures like what Illidan has thrown out there as well. Hmm, I was thinking Ultimate Offering extended to your opponent as well… That may have been an old ruling, or just bad info I got from someone long ago. So, I goofed on it. My bad. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond: Heh, yeah, Illidan is fighting both Haou and Seto. This makes things complicated, if not more dangerous for both sides. True, Illidan didn't hesitate to kill his own monster, which shows just how truly cruel he has become. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: LOL! Is the blanket warm? Yes, poor CED got knifed by his own master. Heh, true, Illidan has become probably the most powerful villain, if not the cruelest villain, thus far in this story. Yes, Illidan is demonstrating just how far he has strayed from his path of life with his actions. Oh, he can still use his Chaos monsters, trust me. I ensured that they would remain useful with his deck. It may seem he has nothing but darkness within his deck, but trust me, he would not abandon his Chaos cards. Those are the cards that give him his true power, so he isn't about to throw those out, unless they cross him, hehe. The bar on this chapter was set by ardee, so you have him to thank for that, but we'll see with future duels how much more the bar can be raised, hehe. Glad you like what's going on. Thanks for your review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all five of you, for your reviews. I really appreciated all of them. I'll continue to try and keep posting this story on time, but there maybe some weeks where I can't, so bear with me. I know it's irritating and frustrating for me to not get chapters done, but I'm trying, so just hang in there. Thanks once more to all of you for your support.**

**At that, I'm done for today. Thank you, all of you, once again. Enjoy!**

**Stats from previous chapter:**

**Life points: (Illidan 13000; Seto 8000, Haou 7400)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan 0**

**Seto 1**

**Haou 1**

**Number of monsters in play:**

**Illidan 0**

**Seto 1**

**Haou 2**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: None**

**Seto: XYZ-Dragon Cannon (2800/2600)**

**Haou: Phantom Gunner (1100/800), Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800)**

**Number of face down Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan 0**

**Seto 1**

**Haou 0**

**Number of face up Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan 1**

**Seto 0**

**Haou 0**

**Face up Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: Ultimate Offering (t)**

**Seto: None**

**Haou: None**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Grave: 8**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 3**

**Chapter 39**

Quietly drawing, Illidan glanced at his new card and smirked evilly. "I activate the spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three new cards, but discard two when I'm done!"

Picking up three cards, he examined the three and selected two and slid them into his Graveyard Slot. "It looks like you two are in for one hell of a ride! I remove from play Prime Material Dragon and Apprentice Magician, which are the two cards I just discarded. By removing them, I'm allowed to special summon this, my Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Eyes widening upon realization what Illidan was summoning, Seto yelled "Don't do it Illidan!"

Ignoring Seto's words, Illidan slapped the monster card onto his Duel Disk, causing a dark burst of energy to form on the field. Rising up out of the energy with a tremendously loud roar a moment later and taking to the air was a large black dragon with sharp clawed hands and feet, massive wings, a strong tail, and an orange mane growing from it's head down to it's neck. Landing back on the ground, the dragon let out a massive roar once more, seemingly shaking the entire area.

Staring at the dragon, Seto felt his mind begin filling with panic and fear. "_NO! I wasn't ready to face his Chaos Emperor Dragon just yet! This creature is equal in strength to my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, with a powerful effect to boot. If Illidan pleases, he could destroy my XYZ-Dragon Cannon and then use his dragon's effect to send every card on the field to the Graveyard, including our hands, leaving me top decking, which will not work well._"

"_No, he won't leave himself that exposed. Besides, he'd only do very little damage if he used that strategy at the moment. I would bet he'll keep holding onto his dragon until he has no choice but to use it's effect._"

Casting a glance at his stone faced partner, Seto grumbled "_I can't expect any help from Jaden. He's so caught up in his own personal victory that he doesn't seem to care what happens to me. If we're going to win, we'll need to work together, which pains me to say._"

"Where is your mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon now, Seto!?" Illidan coldly asked, waking Seto from his thoughts. "Nowhere to be seen from what I can see. Even if you summon that card, it won't help you one bit!"

Pointing at the machine creature before Seto, Illidan smirked evilly and said "Chaos Emperor Dragon, send that scrapheap to the Graveyard! Chaos Blaster!"

Releasing another powerful roar, the dragon opened it's jaws, revealing black energy leaking out. Rearing back it's head, the dragon spat a black fireball straight at the machine creature. The machine stood it's ground and wailed out in pain when the blast struck it, sending out a huge explosion, forcing Seto to cover his face from the blast.

With the dust and debris settling, Illidan began manically laughing and said "I think that's enough damage for now. Go Seto, if you can!" (Illidan 13000; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Preparing to draw his card, Seto felt a trickle of sweat run down the side of his face while placing his trembling fingers onto the top card. Pulling his hand up to look at it, he frowned upon realizing he was trembling in complete fear.

"_If I don't draw the right card here, I'll be wide open to Illidan's attacks. And it's not like I can depend on Jaden, or should I say Haou, to defend me._"

"_And then there is the possibility that if we beat Illidan, Haou will try to take Illidan's soul. That might mean I have to face Haou myself…_"

Shaking himself mentally, he glanced back down at his deck and placed his finger tips back onto it. "_Cross that bridge when you get there. There is still a lot of work to win this duel, so don't get scared now!_"

Picking up his new card, he glanced at it and smirked. Taking the remaining card in his hand, he slid it into a Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I set this card and activate the spell Card of Demise! With this, I draw till I hold five cards in my hand, but in five turns, I must discard my entire hand."

"_Hopefully that will be enough time._" he grumbled within his mind while picking up five new cards.

Examining the new cards, he smirked at the possibilities. Eyeing two cards in particular, he glanced up at the field before him once more. Making his decision, he picked two cards and slapped one horizontally onto his Duel Disk and placed the other into another empty Spell/Trap Slot.

"I set this monster and one more card face down. I end at that." (Illidan 13000; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Casting a warning glance at his partner, Seto said "Play carefully."

Ignoring Seto, Haou drew his new card and frowned lightly. Pointing at his small winged creature, he called out "Since it's my Standby Phase once more, Phantom Gunner deals you another 300 points of direct damage!"

Letting out a small laugh, the blue winged creature's small cannon slid out of the skin on it's back. Aiming at Illidan, the creature fired a small sphere of energy at him, scoring a direct hit on his target.

"Now then, I summon Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense."

Materializing onto the field in a kneeling position was a large round gray and black like creature with a red domed head and gold bands on it's feet. Crossing it's arms, the creature let out a small grown.

"I switch Evil Hero Malicious Edge and Phantom Gunner to defense as well."

Both the creatures kneeled down and crossed their arms, with a horizontal card image forming under each instantly.

Placing a card into a Spell/Trap Slot, he smoothly said "I set this and end my turn." (Illidan 12700; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Drawing a new card, Illidan smiled morbidly at the pair, saying "Believe me, when you two dueled me before, you never tasted the true might of the darkness."

"We're not afraid of you!" Seto shot back.

Darkly chuckling while turning the card he held towards Seto, Illidan darkly said "Oh but you will be. I activate Pot of Avarice! This spell allows me to take five monsters in my Grave and add them back to my deck, then I shuffle and draw two new cards. My selections are these: Darklord Zerato, Dark Crusader, Darknight Parshath, and the two Apprentice Magicians."

One by one, the five cards slid out of Illidan's Graveyard Slot till all five were laying on the slot. Picking them up, Illidan pulled his deck out and shuffled them into his deck. He quickly finished shuffling and replaced his deck in it's own slot. Instantly, he drew two new cards from it.

"Time for more fun. I summon Mystic Tomato (1400/1100) in attack mode!"

Appearing onto the field immediately was a red tomato creature with sharp fangs, a long tongue, crazy yellow corneas with red irises, and veins appearing on the top of it's forehead.

Pointing at Seto's face down monster, he yelled out "Chaos Emperor Dragon, crush Seto's monster!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon reared back it's head. Throwing it's head forward, it opened it's jaws and shot out a blast of black flames. The flames struck the brown backed card, shattering it instantly and revealing a strange looking clown with a white and black painted face, yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, and a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig. The blast easily incinerated the clown, leaving nothing behind.

Smirking, Seto held his palm out and said "You just destroyed Penten the Dark Clown (500/1200)! When he goes to the Graveyard, I can remove him from play and special summon another one from my deck to the field, which I place in defense mode."

Pulling his deck out, Seto searched through it for a moment before selecting a card. He silently returned his deck to it's slot and slapped his new card horizontally onto his Duel Disk. Immediately, a clown that looked exactly like the one that had just been destroyed appeared onto the field and took it's hat off and stuck it's tongue out at Illidan.

"That pathetic creature won't last long. Mystic Tomato, chow down on his creature!" Illidan declared.

Racing forward, the tomato slammed it's body into the clown, making the clown scream out in pain before shattering.

"I activate Peten's effect and summon my final one."

Once more pulling his deck out, Seto found the card he was looking for and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, causing another clown creature to appear sitting on a horizontal card image.

Visibly angry, Illidan jammed a card into a Spell/Trap Slot and growled out "I set this and end! You two will pay for delaying me, trust me!" (Illidan 12700; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Wordlessly drawing, Seto smirked and said "It's go time! I reveal my face down spell, White Dragon Ritual! This spell has me sacrifice a monster or monsters with four stars total to the Graveyard to summon a certain ritual monster. I send this, Rare Metal Dragon, to the Grave and summon Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200) to the field!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash was a sky-blue dragon with a knight wearing light blue armor with golden outlines, a sword in hand, and a helmet on his head. On the knight's back was a flowing white cape that blew in the wind.

"I'm far from done, for I summon Kaibaman (200/700) to the field!"

Slowly materializing onto the field was a human like monster that had a pair of black leather pants on, a white trench coat, a long black sleeved shirt that reached his black spike tipped gloves, a red vest, long butt length red hair, and a white dragon shaped helmet covering his head.

Haou completely ignored the creature while Illidan lightly chuckled. "Yes, summoning that ridiculous creature is most likely the most intelligent move you've made all day."

Ignoring Illidan, Seto plucked the strange monster card off of his Duel Disk and slammed another onto it, saying "I activate Kaibaman's special ability! By sacrificing him, I can special summon this, my mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Leaping into the air, the red haired warrior shimmered and vanished into millions of light particles while a rift appeared above where he was. Flying out of the rift at high speed was a large white dragon with blue eyes. Spreading it's wings and hovering above the field, the dragon let loose a mighty roar while displaying it's sharp clawed hands and feet, along with it's massive wings. Glaring at Illidan, the dragon released another mighty roar, trying hard to instill fear into the duelist, but failing to do so.

Lightly growling, Illidan muttered "I didn't expect our dragons to face one another again so soon. This time however, my foolish dragon doesn't have a choice in the matter."

"It doesn't matter, because Blue-Eyes is about to unleash all of it's fury! Go, blast his Mystic Tomato with White Lightning!" Seto commanded.

Releasing an earth shattering roar, the majestic white dragon took aim while it's jaws opened, revealing bright white energy shimmering out of it's maw. Opening it's jaws fully, the dragon shot out a searing hot white stream of energy at the weaker orange tomato creature. The beam struck the tomato hard, not even allowing the tomato to shriek out before it was incinerated, causing a cloud of smoke to form on the field.

"The handicap you started with is almost gone." Seto smartly remarked while watching the smoke clear from the field.

Hearing maniacal laughter fill the air, Seto lightly gasped when the smoke cleared, revealing an evilly grinning Illidan. "Not bad Seto, but I'm far from through. Did you honestly think I needed those extra 8000 life points to defeat you two fools!? Bah, you only made this duel more difficult for yourselves! And now, I play Mystic Tomato's effect, allowing me to special summon a Dark Attribute monster to the field from my deck, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling his deck out, Illidan sifted through it till he found a card. Slapping it onto his Duel Disk, he said "I choose another Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)."

Rising up onto the field was a tomato creature that looked exactly like the previous one had.

"Crush that rotten vegetable now Paladin of White Dragon with Ionic Spear Strike!"

Watching the incoming attack from the knight on the white dragon, Illidan blandly commented "It's a fruit."

Ignoring Illidan, the knight on the dragon pieced it's sword through the tomato creature, causing it to explode into millions of pieces.

"Don't forget, my monster's effect kicks in, allowing me to special summon my final Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)." Illidan remarked while slapping the new monster card onto his Duel Disk, causing a similar tomato creature to appear.

Nodding, Seto calmly said "I move to my Main Phase 2, allowing me to sacrifice Paladin of White Dragon in order to summon a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) from my deck!"

Upon Seto slapping the monster card onto his Duel Disk, the smaller dragon with a rider on his back glowed brightly with a white light. The rider vanished while the dragon grew larger. The light soon died down, revealing an identical white dragon on the field to the one that had already been played. Both dragons let loose a mighty roar, each directing the roars towards Illidan.

"At that, I end my turn. Come Illidan, face my Blue-Eyes, if you dare!" (Illidan 10600; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Snapping off a new card, Haou glanced at it with a blank look and quietly said "My creature now shaves off another 300 of your life points."

Hearing it's master's words, the small blue winged creature turned it's small cannon towards Illidan and fired a small sphere of energy. The blast hit him gently, not causing any real damage.

Without another word, he slid his card into one of his Spell/Trap Slots. "I end." (Illidan 10300; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Closing his eyes, Illidan drew his card and slid it into one of his empty Spell/Trap Slots without looking at it, saying "I think it's time to play a card that will change the shape of this duel. I activate this card. I think it'll be a real shocker for both of you."

Materializing onto the field before Illidan instantly was a spell card that Seto instantly recognized, along with Haou. "HOW ON EARTH… How did you know what it was!?" Seto demanded.

"The powers that Yami had, over fate, are not so elusive Seto." Illidan blandly replied. "I activate the spell known as Card of Sanctity! This allows all of us to draw till we hold six cards in our hands, so draw gentlemen!"

Clenching his hands tightly into fists, Seto roared in his mind "_NO! This move of his will mean he'll have just enough cards to take us down with Chaos Emperor Dragon!_"

Eyeing Illidan, Haou mentally muttered "_It is surprising that Illidan has the power to influence fate. Only the legendary Pharaoh who was one with Yugi Moto was supposed to be able to do this. Yet Illidan has learned to do what the Pharaoh did. The darkness within him has given him great power, but in the end, it took his sanity and logic, which shall be his downfall._"

"Draw some cards you two, unless you both want to forfeit this duel." Illidan commanded, breaking Kaiba and Haou out of their thoughts.

Grudgingly, the two drew six cards each, with Illidan then picking up six himself. Upon finishing, he evilly grinned towards the two, saying "I could end this duel right here and now with my Chaos Emperor Dragon. After all, we each hold six cards, plus I have two monsters, and each of you two have three monsters a piece. Then there are the face downs, with me having one card and a face up one, then each of you have two face downs. That gives would mean altogether, there is a total of 32 cards on the field and in our hands. Wiping both of you out with Chaos Emperor Dragon would be easy, since neither of you most likely can stop me."

Darkly chuckling, he added "But due that you two have held me up for so long, I have come to realize that giving both of you a quick death would not be the wisest thing. No, I'm going to make the two of you an example to anyone who dares to interrupt matters that don't concern either of you."

"It is foolish to underestimate your competition." Haou blandly remarked.

Glaring at Haou, Illidan hissed back "Such criticism is unwise, supposed Supreme King, especially when your opponent has the power to crush you under his heel."

"Perhaps you have forgotten our previous duel, Illidan." Haou smartly replied. "Since that duel, my powers have since doubled. I have manipulated the darkness wisely, while you have allowed the darkness to take full control of you and manipulate you into a twisted form that no longer resembles what you once was. You are nothing but a shell of your former self, while I have become the most feared and powerful being in this Dark World."

Glancing between the two, Seto spoke up, saying "Don't do this Illidan! You can't beat the two of us. Surrender the duel and let the darkness go. Once you do, the two of us will go save your daughter, together."

"Your words and actions, they cannot change your meaning of life." Illidan coldly remarked while casting his red eyes on Seto.

Unsure of his former friend's words, Seto shot back "What do you mean!?"

Before he could get an answer, the area suddenly began to be enveloped by a dark purplish fog. The three suddenly found themselves floating in mid-air, with all the monsters, trees, and everything they had seen before gone. The mist filling the air itself radiated nothing but pure evil it seemed.

"Your life is unchanged by the illusion you desire, Seto Kaiba." Illidan slowly spoke while glaring at the duelist in his white trench coat. "An illusion is a single, major flaw that drives humans to defeat; that drives them into the ground; that provides them with a false will to fight. Humans prefer illusion to despair; they wish to instead wallow in false hope that is produced by endless misery then accept reality. By desiring an outcome, it cannot happen.

Confused at the serious tone Illidan was speaking in, both Seto and Haou pondered if possibly the sanity that seemed to have eluded Illidan was now back in control.

Glancing from one to the other, Illidan added "You have not faced your problems. Instead, you have masked them with a mirage, a false reality that helps you walk away from the pain that haunts your mind. These illusions, they just won't be denied any longer, and this is no one's fault by your own. Believing in a non-existent force that will alleviate your suffering will not solve your problems. Faith is useless, Kaiba, and is nothing more than an illusion. I know this much thanks to the darkness."

Looking at Illidan, Seto suddenly saw that the duelist's crimson eyes were losing their bloody tinge and slowly becoming brown once more. Before he could speak, an illusion appeared, making Seto gasp in shock.

"_This is…_"

Before him was the inside of a temple, with himself, Illidan, and Yugi standing side by side in a duel. Across the field stood a figure with long teal colored hair that reached his calves in length, and wore a set of white robes.

"_That's the duel between Dartz and the three of us. And from what I can tell, this is the part I can never forget._"

On the field, a large creature with two smaller ones before itself, created a halo like saw disc above it's head. The creature launched the ring towards a dark brown dragon that was before the past version of Seto. With ease, the ring sliced through the dragon, making it howl out in pain before shattering while the ring continued on and struck Seto, throwing him backwards against the green barrier that held the four of them in the duel.

"You simply believed that because you were driven by some false sense of hope and righteousness, you would win that duel. It was but luck that allowed Yami to draw the correct card combination to end that duel. No, one must go beyond moral boundaries, and stop believing in false hope if they are to make it to their goal. You are a weak and pathetic human who is defined by the illusionary morals that you stand by in an attempt to acquire a non-existent goal. Fool, you must fight your problems by facing them head on."

"Illusion is what your life is defined by, Kaiba. You have decided to not face me with your full power due to the false hope that I will give up my clear sight and return to your pathetic moral school of thought. That is why you will never be truly powerful, which is what you have always desired. You can't use your full might when it matters the most, and that will be your downfall."

Grinding his teeth together, Seto yelled out "This duel is still on Illidan. And if you haven't noticed, I have the advantage still!"

Sighing slightly, Illidan closed his eyes, and muttered "Still you choose to stay in that illusion, and that will be your undoing. As a weak human, you are defined by your flaws and weaknesses, not by your strengths and powers because you've yet to learn how to use them. Had you known this before standing in my path, you would have not signed your own death warrant."

While Illidan spoke, the images of all of their friends, starting with Yugi, Joey, Tea, Mai, Marie, Illidan's past self, Jaden, Alexis, Zane, Syrus, Mokuba, and Rebecca all appeared, but were all grayed out with exception of Yugi.

After a moment, the image of Yugi moved and grabbed hold of Tea's hand, causing color to appear on her and she came to life. Yugi soon clapped a hand onto Joey's shoulder, who reached out for Mai, who touched Marie, who grabbed Illidan's arm. Things continued to progress, with Illidan touching Jaden's shoulder, who grabbed Alexis's hand while grasping Syrus's with his other hand. Mokuba came to life on his own and touched Joey's other shoulder while holding Rebecca's hand, and Zane touched Syrus on the shoulder.

"A clear pattern exists in this, Seto, one that even a fool like you can see." Illidan calmly explained.

Glancing at the images of his friends, Kaiba began to realize the meaning to Illidan's words. "_For years, I've declared I needed nobody, that I was happy to be alone. Over the years, I mellowed out and became friends with Yugi and the others. It was hard, for the years of hardship, despair, and pain on my own always came to mind when I tried to depend on others. Even now, I'm not extremely close to any of them, but I'm closer than before. All my life, I've had nothing but loneliness. Even when I tried to escape it, I always slipped back into it. Does this mean I can never save anyone, even someone like Illidan that I called a friend…_"

"Your hope of escaping the void of your own selfishness and loneliness is nothing but an illusion. You must accept the non-existence of hope and faith, and confront problems with your own might, no matter how bleak the situation, for it is the only way for it to happen."

"_No, my mission has not yet failed! I will do everything within my power to save him! If I must give my own soul, so be it, but I will not allow him to wander the darkness like this!_" Seto screamed in his mind.

Angrily glaring at Illidan, Seto fiercely said "You have lost your mind, Illidan. When this is over, I will bring you back to your senses. Now make your move, so I can get one step closer to winning this duel and restoring your mind to the way it was."

Watching Illidan look at himself, Seto gasped in surprise when he noted his friend had an expression of sadness within his eyes for a moment. That moment quickly faded, with the crimson red refilling his eyes and a glint of evil reappearing within them. The darkness soon faded, with the group returning to the dueling area where they had begun.

"FINE SETO!" Illidan angrily snarled. "If you will continue this façade of victory beyond reality, I have no choice but to ram your words of false courage back down your throat with all the might of my deck! If you will not listen to reason, then you will listen to the power of my cards! I activate the spell Chaos Fusion!"

Eyes widening in shock, Seto watched and listened to Illidan intently as he held one card up from his hand, revealing it to the pair. "I fuse my Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End along with my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) together."

Materializing onto the field immediately was a blue skinned mage with black demonic markings on his face, with long black hair, and red eyes with yellow corneas. He wore black leather armor with a strange mage's hat on his head and held a long staff in his hands.

Glancing sadly back at Illidan, the mage looked to the dragon and the pair vanished into a black haze. A swirling began within the haze, and slowly sliding out of the vortex was a beast like creature that radiated a dark, evil energy. The creature had a core body that resembled a torso with solid black coloring. It had a metallic and futuristic look to the creature, for it swayed in the wind, showing it was made up of a plasma like material. The creature barely resembled anything human like, for it had a blood red dragonic head, with a pair of black wings on it's back, two legs that looked like a hybrid of a dragon and human's legs, and two small forearms that were hidden mostly by it's wings. The creature's eyes were cruel, animalistic yellow.

Pointing at the new creature, Illidan smartly called out "Meet my newest Chaos monster, Chaos Demon Chimera – Envoy of Judgment (0/4000), in defense!"

Gasping in surprise, Kaiba muttered "Four thousand defense points?"

"_Only a few monsters have more attack points than that, not to mention, very few monsters have that many defense points. More than likely, that thing has many special effects too. All of Illidan's Chaos Fusions always have some kind of special ability, or abilities for that matter._" Seto grumbled within his mind.

Noting Haou was examining his creature with a stunned look as well, Illidan smugly said "I set this card face down and end my move." (Illidan 10300; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

"_What could he plan to do with that thing?_" Seto pondered within his mind. "_It has zero attack points, but makes an excellent defensive wall. If that's all it's for, then it's pointless, but that's unlike Illidan. No, that creature has a few effects I'd have to guess, meaning we need to take it out, and fast._"

"Are you going to take your turn today or not?" Illidan asked with irritation in his voice.

Growling lowly, Seto snapped off the top card on his deck and examined it before sliding it into a Spell/Trap Slot. "I play the equip spell Shooting Star Bow – Ceal, and equip it to my Blue-Eyes. By doing so, this lowers my dragon's attack points by 1000 (3000 – 1000 2000/2500)."

Letting out a small growl while it's body glowed with a light red aura, the dragon glared at plasma creature and let out another mighty roar.

"By lowering my dragon's points, I'm allowed to direct attack you with him, so go, blast him directly with White Lightning!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the white dragon took to the air and opened it's jaws. White energy instantly began shining out from the dragon's maw, revealing the destructive force within them. Taking aim, the dragon released it's payload, sending a beam of searing hot white energy straight at Illidan. The blast was about to hit him till he reached out and knocked it away with his fist, sending it slamming into the ground nearby and sending smoke into the air.

With the smoke settling, the plasma creature before Illidan let out a small cry while a hatch on it's torso opened, revealing a tentacle that reached out and touched Illidan. Suddenly, it's stats changed, showing the creature gaining strength (1000/4000).

Seeing confusion on both Seto and Haou's faces, Illidan calmly said "Whenever a player is dealt Battle Damage, Demon Chimera gains attack points equal to half the Battle Damage. That means the more I damage the two of you, or the more you damage me, the more strength my creature gains."

"_An intriguing, but powerful card. Although it's just a big wall at face value, it can turn into a massive offensive weapon in an incredibly short time span. He doesn't have to wait on us to attack him, but he can just summon a powerful card and attack us with it, allowing him to chip away at our life points while powering up his creature. It's like he expected me to bypass his monsters and direct attack him! But is that possible?_"

Shaking himself mentally, Seto hardened his stare and gruffly said "Fine then Illidan."

Examining his hand, he eyed the cards he had and mentally said "_I can just lie in wait till the time is right. One way or another, I'll drag you back to your senses before this is all over._"

"I end my turn." (Illidan 8600; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)


	41. Chapter 40: Chaos vs Light and Dark, P3

**Hey gang! Sorry for the day late post. Life has just been crazy. We're finishing up our project at work, and I have only one or two things left to finish up on, but still, it's time consuming, which sucks. I was going to post yesterday, but it slipped my mind, sadly. I remembered I was going to, but like I said, I got busy unfortunately, so oh well. At any rate, I did get this chapter finished and it's ready to post, so it's all good. Life otherwise for me has been just rough I suppose. I'm trying not to stress about work, but the last two or three weeks have been really taxing. I had all this stuff due on our project that I couldn't figure out and had to research, then I had normal life as well, plus trying to find time to read and write fan fics. I'll just be happy once I finish up working on this project since life should return to some sort of normalcy, I hope…**

**Writing wise, I've come up with plenty of ideas for future chapters, but they're more ideas in my head than anything else. We'll see where that goes. As for next week's chapter, it may or may not be on time. Ardee, like myself, has been rather busy, so it's hard for us to get it together in most recent times, which sucks for both of us. We're trying though, so have a little patience.**

**Moving along, time for the lone review.**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Heh, true, Pot of Avarice doesn't belong in a Dark Attribute deck, but it was necessary to help keep his monster supply fresh, thus why it was added to this deck. There is a limit on how many he has, so don't think it's like Jaden or Yugi's deck that seems to never run out of monsters. Illidan's deck does have limitations, thus why Pot of Avarice was added to balance it back out. True, it defeats the purpose of Chaos decks as well, but like I said, it was necessary to help balance his deck out. The number of Light Attribute monsters is far less in his current deck than his previous ones, so it's not like he can spare any cards. Yep, it seems Seto is bringing his A game at last, but if that's enough, I don't know. Illidan has a resilient and tough deck that isn't easily destroyed. It is sad that Illidan appeared to kill his Chaos Emperor Dragon, only to bring it back, but it looks like the dragon has no choice in fighting this time. Heh, Lucifer's deck will be fun, trust me. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it guys. Thanks SCA for the review. I appreciate it. At any rate, I need to run, so I hope you guys like this next chapter. Enjoy!**

**Stats from previous chapter:**

**Life Points: (Illidan 8600; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Chaos Demon Chimera – Envoy of Judgment (1000/4000), Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)**

**Seto: Penten the Dark Clown (500/1200) (d), Blue-Eyes White Dragon x 2 (3000/2500) (2000/2500) **

**Haou: Phantom Gunner (1100/800) (d), Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800) (d), Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) (d)**

**Face up Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: Ultimate Offering (t)**

**Seto: Shooting Star Bow – Ceal (s)**

**Haou: None**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan 2**

**Seto 6**

**Haou 6**

**Number of monsters in play:**

**Illidan 2**

**Seto 3**

**Haou 3**

**Number of face down Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan 2**

**Seto 2**

**Haou 2**

**Number of face up Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan 1**

**Seto 1**

**Haou 0**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Grave: 7**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 4**

**Turns since Seto played Card of Demise: 2**

**Chapter 40**

Without a word, Haou drew his card and examined his hand. "_I have allowed this duel to continue on as it is for far too long. If they think that I, the Supreme King, will be ignored, they are fools._"

Pointing at his blue winged creature, Haou calmly said "I begin by playing my Phantom Gunner's effect, meaning you lose another 300 life points."

Taking aim at Illidan, the small winged creature fired a single sphere of energy straight at Illidan. Like always, the blast hit, but did little damage. Instantly, the black plasma creature roared loudly while it's strength increased (1150/4000).

"_What is that fool thinking!? He'll only increase the power of Illidan's creature by doing something like that!"_ Seto roared within his mind.

Ignoring the glare he was receiving from his partner, Haou showed a card from his hand and coldly said "Stop Defense, activate! This spell forces your monster into attack mode."

With a strangled growl, the black plasma creature slowly stood up and spread it's wings out while glaring at the monsters on the field.

"I switch my monsters all into attack mode."

One by one, the creatures before Haou stood up, with each returning the glare from the black plasma creature with one of their own.

"Dark Fusion, activate."

"Again!?" Illidan asked with a gruff voice.

Not acknowledging Illidan, Haou showed another card from his hand, saying "Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400) and Clayman, dark fuse."

A small electrical storm without warning flared up, from which a blue and gold armored warrior with wing like structures on his back appeared. He wore a blue helmet with gold trim that hid his entire face.

The two suddenly began swirling together, creating a black vortex. From the vortex, several bolts of electricity began flashing around a dangerous looking new creature. It was a large, sleek, mostly blue-green armored creature, with purple stripes on it's arms, chest, and legs. On it's chest was a large red half sphere, which was also on each of the creature's knuckles. Golden lightning bolt like blades ran off the creature's shoulders, while it also had purple spikes sticking up. The creature's head was covered with a blue glass like visor, except for his mouth. His fingers were massive and golden colored as well. Letting out a small roar, the creature glared out at the other monsters on the field.

"Come, Evil Hero Lightning Golem (2400/1500). And now, his effect activates. He destroys once monster on the field once per a turn. Crush his pathetic Demon Chimera!"

Pointing it's hand at the black plasma creature, the dark green armored creature released a sphere of pure electricity at the plasma monster. The blast struck the creature hard, making it howl out in pain, but before the blast could pierce through it's body, it used it's tail to knock the blast away into a nearby tree, which caught fire instantly while leaving the plasma creature unharmed.

Darkly chuckling, Illidan held his hand out to his Graveyard Slot while a card from within it slowly slid out. Taking hold of it, he showed it to Haou, saying "My Demon Chimera isn't so easily destroyed. By removing from play a Light or Dark Attribute monster in my Graveyard, I can negate it's destruction. I choose to remove this, one of my Mystic Tomato's, so sorry but your attempt has failed."

"Malicious Edge, crush his creature!"

Leaping into the air, the needle throwing creature flung all of it's needles at the black plasma creature. Each needle hit their target, making the creature wail out loudly.

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot once more, Illidan picked up a card that slid out and showed it to Haou, smugly saying "I remove from play this, my second Mystic Tomato, allowing my creature to remain on the field. And let's not forget, you just dealt me damage, meaning my creature gains more power (1875/4000)."

Pondering for a moment on his next move, Haou glanced at the plasma creature on the field. "_Should I attack with Lightning Golem, that creature will have a little over 2100 attack points, plus Illidan will remove from play another card to keep it in play. Next turn, he'll target Phantom Gunner, thus granting his creature even more points and making it the second strongest creature next to Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Then there is the possibility that he'll summon another card…_"

"_Still, he will have only five monsters left in his Graveyard should I attack. That means eventually, he will run out of cards to remove from play. I have to rely on Kaiba to attack that thing, and force Illidan to give up another monster. He'll run out of cards soon enough._"

Shaking his head, he added "_No, I cannot rely on anyone. I am the Supreme King, I need no one!_"

"Lightning Golem, attack that thing!"

Raising it's hands, the blue green creature began shoving energy into it's palms. After a moment, yellow lightning began forming at it's palms. Slowly, a sphere of yellow energy formed and the creature pushed it away, sending it hurtling onwards towards the weaker black plasma creature. The blast slammed heavily into the creature, making it howl out in pain like before.

Sighing, Illidan shook his head, saying "You just don't learn, do you? I remove from play this, my Vampire's Curse to keep my creature on the field, which grows stronger (2137/4000)."

The creature let out a massive roar and shook the blast off easily.

"I end my move." (Illidan 6325; Seto 7800, Haou 7400)

Picking up a new card, Illidan smirked. Pointing at his plasma creature, he smartly said "It's time I revealed to you two fools another of my mighty Chaos Demon Chimera's special abilities."

Reaching out from the hatches on the body of the black plasma creature were several tendrils that began pooling together and slowly began forming a series of shapes till finally the shape took a vaguely humanoid form. The form slowly began to gain color, with it revealing blue skin on the creature, wearing black tight fitting armor with a mage's hat and long black staff in hand.

Eyes widening a fraction, Seto mumbled "No way…"

"As I'm sure you already know, this is my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)." Illidan informed the duo. "By sacrificing half of Chaos Demon Chimera's attack points, I can special summon one Chaos monster from my Graveyard (1068/4000)."

Grinning evilly once more, he added "And since I just brought my mage back, his special ability kicks in, allowing me to add one spell from my Graveyard to my hand. I think Chaos Fusion shall do."

Hearing this, Haou let out a low grunt of annoyance. Realizing that Haou had been the one to make the sound, Illidan wagged a finger at the black armored duelist while holding his spell card in his right hand, saying "I wouldn't worry, Haou. I won't be activating Chaos Fusion for a while, yet, but it's unlikely you'll be around to see it once again."

"And now then, I activate Chaos Demon Chimera's third special ability! By giving up some of it's defense points, I can strengthen another Chaos creature. I shall give up 1500 of it's defense points, allowing me to increase Dark Magician of Chaos's strength (1068/4000 – 1500 2500) (2800 + 1500 4300/2600)."

Watching while the blue skinned mage's power increased, Seto grit his teeth. "_This is not good. If he can increase the power of his Chaos creature's attack points by sacrificing that weaker creature's defense points, we'll never get the upper hand._"

"Next I summon Dark Grepher (1700/1600) in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field near the blue skinned mage, plasma creature, and red-orange tomato creature was a muscular warrior with dark skin, wearing tight leather armor that had spikes coming out of it's pants legs, a chest plate that covered his lower chest that had two thick straps that had spikes on it as well, with the chest plate having red eyes painted onto it. His arms were completely exposed, with only two small gauntlets on his wrists and a black cloth covering his neck and the back of his head and his forehead. The creature's hair was sickly white and he bore red eyes. In his right hand was a mighty broad sword. Fully on the field, he took a kneeling stance and crossed his arms.

"I shall now switch Mystic Tomato to defense as well, allowing the real fun to begin." Illidan darkly commented. Pointing at the weaker blue winged creature in front of Haou, he said "Dark Magician of Chaos, crush that thing with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Twirling his scepter around the side of his body, the mage took aim and released a black sphere of magical energy at the small demonic creature. The creature was hit hard and screamed out in pain before exploding. With the creature gone, the blast continued on and struck Haou, making him groan from the inflicted pain while his life points dropped.

"Since I just dealt you 3200 points of Battle Damage, my Chaos Demon Chimera's attack points rise by 1600 points (1068 + 1600 2668/2500). And now, Chimera, attack his pathetic Evil Hero Lightning Golem!"

Spreading it's wings, the massive plasma creature shot several tendrils of black plasma straight at the blue-green warrior. The tendrils ensnared the large creature easily, making it struggle to free itself, but quickly found it could not. Slowly, the tendrils began squeezing the warrior tightly till it could no longer move at all. Opening it's maw, the dragon began building up dark red energy within it's jaws. With enough power built up at long last, the plasma creature released a blast of the dark red energy, which easily vaporized the weaker warrior creature and damaging it's own tendrils. The tendrils slowly began to ooze their way back over to the plasma creature till finally it reached it and slid back into it's body.

"I just dealt you another 268 points of Battle Damage, making my creature 134 attack points stronger (2668 + 134 2802/2500). At that, I think I shall end my turn and allow Seto to try and do something to stop me since you seem incapable of doing anything right, Haou." (Illidan 6325; Seto 7800, Haou 3932)

Drawing a card, Seto stared at the two creatures powerful creatures before Illidan. "_That idiot just gave Illidan the power to slowly pick us apart. Two out of four of his creatures have 2800 or more attack points. Only my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon has more power than Illidan's Dark Magician of Chaos now._"

"_Still, he made a big mistake by leaving my two Blue-Eyes on the field. All I need is to draw once more card and he'll be back to square one. Still, till then, I'll have to hold the line._ _I could attack his Dark Grepher or Mystic Tomato, but doing that would only give him more monsters in his Graveyard to remove from play for his Chaos Demon Chimera, meaning it would be harder to destroy. Even if I used my weaker Blue-Eyes to direct attack, I would leave my other wide open. I can't take chances now. I have to just protect my two dragons and hope I can fend him off should he attack me._"

Shifting the position of two of his monster cards to horizontal positions, Seto calmly said "I switch both of my dragons to defense mode, then I shall set these two cards face down and end my move." (Illidan 6325; Seto 7800, Haou 3932)

"That seemed like a desperate move to me, Seto." Illidan coldly commented with a cruel smile. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you, so enjoy your defenses, while they last."

"If you're done rattling on, it is my move." Haou declared, earning him a glare from Illidan while he drew his card. "I activate my final Dark Fusion, allowing me to fuse Evil Hero Malicious Edge and The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to form a new creature."

A dark swirling instantly formed above the field while a flesh like black rock creature with pink tendrils sticking out of it formed onto the field. Both the black armored creature and black rock flew into the swirling and vanished without a trace. A moment later, the black armored warrior reappeared, but with a bit of a different look. His needles were now long black claws, with black hair shooting out from behind his helmet, and his wings grew in size. An eerie dark red aura slowly emanated from the creature, who smiled evilly at the monsters on Illidan's field.

"Come forth, Evil Hero Malicious Fiend (3500/2100)." Haou commanded.

Chuckling darkly, Illidan smugly said "So, the most powerful of the Evil Heroes has arrived, eh? How delicious, Jaden."

"Do not call me that." Haou coldly remarked.

"What's wrong Jaden? Have you forgotten about your original self? Don't you remember how weak, pathetic, and so naïve you once were? You never realized that in order to achieve your goals that you had to be ruthless and cold. You cannot even begin to hope to defeat me so long as you hold onto your childish self. And you always will, for I know that there is no Supreme King, or should I say Haou, only you, Jaden Yu…"

"Jaden Yuki no longer exists!" Haou hissed with anger visibly emanating from him. "He is long gone, and only I, Haou, the Supreme King, remains!"

Darkly chuckling, Illidan replied "That's right, deny the truth and live in the illusion that you are who you say you are, but I see the truth. You may be ruthless right now, but deep down, Jaden is fighting to regain control of his mind and body, and in the end, he shall crush you under his own heel, Haou. Unless of course, I crush you first."

Angered even further, Haou yelled "I alone shall destroy you, and I shall use Malicious Fiend to do so! I equip him with the spell known as Heart of a Villain, increasing his attack points by 400 for every Evil Hero Fusion Type monster in my Graveyard. At this moment, I have two, thanks to you, who are Evil Heroes Inferno Wing and Lightning Golem (3500 + 400 2 4300/2100)!"

Spreading it's wings fully, the black leather wearing warrior let out a might howl while it's body began to glow with a dark red aura and it's claws began crackling with dark energy.

"Malicious Fiend, crush his pathetic excuse for a monster with Malicious Strike!"

Taking to the air, the black leather wearing warrior flew straight for the weak and sickly looking plasma creature. Without a second thought, the warrior swiped out at the creature, easily cutting into it's body and sending plasma leaking out onto the ground while the creature let out a shriek from the pain it felt. With the warrior retreating, the plasma on the ground slowly slid back into the plasma creature, which screeched loudly at the warrior monster.

"Not bad, Haou, but you forget, the more damage you inflict on me, the stronger my monster gets." Illidan coolly remarked. Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, a card slid out and he revealed it, saying "Plus, by removing my second D.D. Survivor in the Graveyard, I can keep my creature on the field. And speaking of my monster, it just gained 749 attack points (2802 + 749 3551/2500)."

In a cold, calm voice, Haou said "I set this and end my turn." (Illidan 4827; Seto 7800, Haou 3932)

"_That idiot! What was he thinking!? Illidan now has two powerhouses on the field with over 3000 attack points, plus his Dark Grepher, which I have no clue to what it does. Then there is the threat of Chaos Sorcerer and Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning still, plus the fact he still has Chaos Fusion in his hand. From here on, we have to play smarter, if we're going to survive this duel!_" Kaiba declared within his mind.

Hearing a card being snapped off, Seto quickly looked up to see Illidan was drawing his new card. "Since you fools have been so good to me, allow me to thank you. First, since I have exactly three Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard, I can now summon a creature so powerful and hellish, you'd wish that you were never born. Welcome my Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!"

A black cloud instantly formed onto the field that obscured what the creature was that was being summoned. After a moment, a tail with four metallic looking joints that had sharp spikes on it rose from the cloud, along with two sharp clawed hands with gray skin. Large blade like wings sprouted out a second later. A few more seconds passed and the cloud dissipated to reveal the full extent of a large dark gray dragon with black metallic armor on it's body, with sharp blades sticking out from the back of it's neck. Staring down at all the monsters on it's opponents' side of the field, the dragon released a horrific roar, seemingly shaking the entire area.

"_Great, another powerful monster!_" Seto growled in his mind.

Staring at the new creature, Haou said nothing, but lightly smirked at the sight of the creature.

"Now then, I reveal my trap, Dark Spirit Art – Greed. By playing this trap, I can sacrifice a Dark Attribute monster on my field and then draw two cards, but there is a catch. The two of you can stop me by one of you simply discarding a spell card from your hand."

Glancing at one another, both duelists shook their heads, making Illidan smile triumphantly. "Since you can't or won't stop me, I sacrifice Mystic Tomato to use this card!"

The red-orange tomato creature instantly vanished in a flash while it's master drew two new cards. Darkly chuckling, he pointed at the dark dragon creature, saying "I now activate Dark Armed Dragon's special ability. By removing from play a Dark Attribute monster in my Grave, I can destroy one card on the field. I'll take the Mystic Tomato I just sent there out and destroy that pathetic clown to start with, Seto."

Whipping it's tail around, the dragon swiped it through the air, sending a series of needles from the end of it flying at the clown creature. The spikes easily pierced through it, leaving only the two white dragons before Seto.

"And don't think you're off the hook, Haou. I remove another card, my Cyber Jar, allowing me to take out that pathetic little equip card, Haou."

Roaring loudly, the dark gray dragon swung it's tail in the direction of Haou, sending out a shower of needs from the four columns on the tip of it's tail. The spikes easily shattered the spell card image, weakening the black leather wearing warrior immediately (3500/2100).

With a grunt, Haou harshly said "By destroying Heart of a Villain, it's secondary effect kicks in, allowing me to permanently disable one monster's effect while it's on the field. I obviously choose your Dark Armed Dragon."

Glowing with a dark black aura, the dragon roared out in pain, but settled and glowered at the black armored duelist.

Shrugging, Illidan firmly replied "It matters not, for this duel is over for you now. I give up half of Chaos Demon Chimera's attack points (1775/2500) to bring back an old friend of mine. Revive now you worthless beast, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Black tendrils once more launched off to the side of the plasma creature and began morphing into different shapes. After a few moments, the shape finally took the shape of a large dragon. Slowly, the dragon gained color and revealed itself to be the powerful black dragon with an orange mane. Fully back on the field, the dragon let out a massive roar, seemingly shaking the area.

"I reduce Chaos Demon Chimera's defense points by 1500 (1775/2500 – 1500 1000) and donate those points to my Chaos Emperor Dragon's attack points (3000 + 1500 4500/2500). Not even your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon can save you now, Kaiba!"

Releasing a roar nearly loud enough to be heard around Dark World, the mighty black dragon glared down at it's opponents while Seto removed his hands from his ears.

"And now then, I can sacrifice Dark Grepher for my Dark General Freed (2300/1700)!"

The white haired warrior instantly vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a warrior with dark gray hair that reached his shoulder blades in length, had blue skin, and red glowing eyes. The warrior wore black armor with gold trim on it that covered him completely except for his hands and head, and he had a green cape on his back with a sword on his right hip. Sneering at the monsters across the field, the blue skinned warrior placed his clawed hand onto the hilt of his sword.

"_Great, now he has five monsters with over 2000 attack points. This doesn't bode well for either of us!_" Seto muttered darkly in his mind.

"Dark Armed Dragon, erase that pathetic excuse for a dragon with Needle Tail Swipe!"

Roaring loudly at the sound of his master's words, the large dark gray skinned dragon charged forward. Coming to a stop with a few feet to the white metallic like dragon, the gray skinned dragon spun around and swung it's sharp spiked tail at the white dragon. The spiked tail easily ripped through the white dragon, making the white wyvern cry out in pain before shattering.

Growling lowly, Seto mentally declared "_You will pay for disrespecting my Blue-Eyes in such a manner!_"

In all his anger, the duelist in a white trench coat clenched his hand tightly and yelled "What has happened to you Illidan!? I want the person I once knew as a friend back. Who you are now is far from what you truly are! Whatever possesses you is nothing more than a monster who has no concept of right and wrong! You may have all the power in the world, but you don't know what to do with it, and that makes you a little more than a mindless fool!"

"You're rambling." Illidan pointedly remarked. "I've explained myself once, and I will not do so again. Moral boundaries are for the weak, were for the weak, and will always be for the weak, so don't pester me again about them. And now, Dark Magician of Chaos, crush his remaining dragon with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Pointing his staff at the white metallic dragon, the blue skinned mage fired a blast of black magical energy straight at the dragon, which roared loudly upon impact. A moment passed and a large explosion ensued, leaving smoke filling the air.

"Thanks to my mage, your dragon is removed from play now. With those lizards out of the way, I could eliminate you, Seto, but I have someone else to take care of, namely you, Haou! Slaughter his Malicious Fiend immediately Chaos Emperor Dragon, with Chaos Blaster!"

Roaring loudly, the black dragon spread it's wings and threw back it's head. Flinging it's head back forward, the dragon released a sphere of black flames at the weaker black leather armored warrior. The sphere impacted the warrior heavily, making him scream out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels. With the scream quieting, the plasma creature's body slowly began to glow while another tendril grew out of it's body.

"Since I did 1000 points of damage to your life points, my Chaos Demon Chimera gets 500 additional attack points (2275/1000). And at that, I'll allow him to direct attack you, Haou!"

Roaring loudly, the black plasma creature opened it's maw, revealing dark red energy spilling out of it. With no hesitation visible, the dragon released a blast of dark red energy in Haou's direction, which scored a direct hit, making the black armored duelist scream out in pain before falling to one knee.

"Lest you forget, my creature gets stronger for it's attack just now (3412/1000)." Illidan commented with a bored expression. "You're no fun Haou. This duel has been far too simple. Go back into the darkness from which you came from and live there for eternity. Finish him now Dark General Freed!"

Drawing his sword, the dark gray haired man smirked evilly at the gasping black armored figure on one knee. Letting out a small battle cry, the warrior began racing across the field while Haou's eyes widened and for the first time showed actual fear of the oncoming attack.

"Farewell my former student. You were far too overconfident that you could beat your former teacher." Illidan smartly admonished.

Preparing to swing his sword at the kneeling figure of the black armored duelist, the dark gray haired warrior suddenly stopped his movement.

Surprised at this, Illidan angrily yelled "FINISH HIM!"

With difficulty, the warrior slowly spun around, revealing glazed over eyes. Not sure what was going on, the brown haired duelist glanced around the field and saw that the white trench coat wearing duelist had revealed a face down card.

"YOU!" Illidan accusingly yelled while pointing at Seto.

In a cold, unforgiving voice, Seto nodded and replied "That's right, me. I activated my trap just in time to save Haou. Go, Attack Guidance Armor and attach yourself to his Dark Armed Dragon!"

Appearing around the dark gray skinned dragon instantly was a set of dull gray armor, which seemed to have caught the attention of the dark gray haired warrior. He stared at it longingly for a moment before finally racing forward with his sword drawn up to fight. Without a second though, he slashed out at the dragon, only to have his sword caught by the dragon and snapped in half. Stepping back hesitantly, the warrior looked at his sword, but didn't have long to contemplate the loss for the dark gray skinned dragon's spiked tail came swinging around and smashed through the warrior, shattering him completely before the armor on the dragon vanished. Watching all this, the black plasma creature's body instantly glowed with a light red aura while it's strength increased once more (3662/1000).

Growling lowly and in a dangerous tone, Illidan snarled out "You will pay for your insolence! I spared you for the time being, but if you wish to fight, then I will grind you into nothingness!"

"Too bad you have no more attacks this turn to carry out such a threat." Seto blandly replied while giving off a glare.

Clenching his right fist tightly, Illidan grunted out "You're right about that. I shall end my turn, but mark my words, neither of you will be around much longer." (Illidan 4327; Seto 7800, Haou 657)

Glancing at his deck, Seto stared at the top card and moved his hand to place his fingers onto the card. "_This is the moment of truth. If I don't draw the card I need, Illidan will crush both Haou and myself easily in his next turn. I can't let him win, no matter what. I have to remember what I'm fighting for: a friend, who in my heart, I know would do the same for me. No matter what happens, I won't abandon him! He has done so much for me, so it's time I returned the favor!_"

Drawing his card, he looked at it and showed it to Illidan, saying "It's time I got my friend back! It starts by me activating this spell, D.D.R – Different Dimension Reincarnation! This card first forces me to discard one card from my hand to begin with, so I'll toss this card."

Selecting one card in his hand, Seto silently placed it into his Graveyard Slot, which instantly sucked it down while he smirked. "I next get to choose a monster that's been removed from play and special summon it to the field. You sent it there last turn, so welcome back my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Appearing above the field with a rainbow colored glow was a rift. Flying out of the rift suddenly was the familiar white metallic dragon, which roared loudly upon landing on the field.

"Big deal, Seto. I'll just send that dragon back where it came from next turn." Illidan remarked while folding his arms over his chest.

Shaking his head, Seto smartly replied "I wouldn't count on it. I activate a spell that will reshape this duel! Go Dragon's Mirror!"

Eyes widening a fraction, Illidan mumbled "That means…"

"That means your worst nightmare is about to hit the field!" Seto declared while laughing loudly. "I remove from play the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I have on the field, along with the two I have in my Graveyard in order to fuse them together! Come my dragons, rise up once more and bring me victory!"

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot on Seto's Duel Disk shot out two beams of white light. The twin lights twisted around one another before splitting up and coming to a stop. Together, the lights released a blinding brightness, revealing two more white metallic dragons, with each releasing a mighty roar.

With a mighty roar, the three dragons took off into the sky and went sailing into the clouds above. A blinding white light pierced through the clouds after a moment, and a much louder roar sounded off. Slowly descending out of the clouds was a large white metallic dragon with three heads, massive wings, sharp clawed hands and feet, and a massive tail. Hitting the ground, the three heads released yet another mighty roar, shaking the entire area again.

"Welcome to the field my all powerful Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Staring at the dragon with an unreadable expression, Illidan firmly said "That dragon may be powerful, but let's not forget the fact that my Chaos Emperor Dragon is currently even in strength with it. This is nothing more than a stalemate, Seto, although I hold the keys to your demise."

"I wouldn't count on it Illidan!" Seto fired back. "My Blue-Eyes is powerful, but it is not the final form of the Blue-Eyes series. You learned that a year ago."

Widening his eyes a bit, Illidan quietly asked "Do you mean you're going to summon it?"

"Yes, I'm about to summon the dragon that will remove the darkness from you, once and for all, and I only think it's fitting that it's name will give light to your dark world! First though, I reveal my face down spell, Burial from a Different Dimension, allowing me to transfer the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500) that I removed from play back into my Graveyard."

Placing the three dragon cards into his Graveyard, Seto pulled the next to last card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I sacrifice Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to summon the dragon that will end this duel! Rise up now my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Cracks slowly began forming on the three headed white dragon's body, causing the dragon to roar loudly before shattering. In the wake of the dragon's destruction, a blinding white light filled the field, forcing Illidan and Haou to cover their faces from the light while Seto stared on. The glowing slowly faded, allowing the pair to look at the field once more. There before Seto hovered a new white metallic dragon, this one with a futuristic look to it. From head to toe, the dragon was covered in white metal armor, with blue half orbs sticking out of it's metal armor at different points on it's body. Like all of the previous dragon's the dragon had blue colored eyes that seemed to be all knowing. Flicking it's metallic tail behind itself, the dragon spread it's metallic wings and let out a high pitched roar.

Eyeing the metallic dragon, Illidan quietly said "Your most powerful and rarest monster. The rare appearance of this creature is quite surprising."

"Did you think I would cease to exist or allow you to remain lost in this hellish wasteland, Illidan!?" Seto demandingly asked. "I will not leave here without you, and I will use all the power of my dragon to drag you back into reality!"


	42. Chapter 41: Chaos vs Light and Dark, P4

**Hey gang! I'm so, so sorry for the late post! Ardee and I were a bit busy with real life stuff, so this didn't get done on time, sadly, but he sent me the finished version last week. Unfortunately, after pecking away at this all weekend, I didn't get it ready to post till today. At any rate, I apologize for this late a chapter. I will have the next one up in two weeks, if not before, so please do bear with the two of us. Thanks.**

**Moving along to the reviews now.**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Lol, glad I may or may not have added too many cards, hehe. At any rate, yeah, Chimera is a bit overpowered, but at the same time, it isn't invincible. Heh, yeah, Burst Stream should have been in there, but no such luck, and besides, Chimera would have survived the blast. Eh, you never know with Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. It may stand more of a chance than you think. True, Haou is starting to let his anger cloud his judgment. LOL! That was random about Lucifer, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Raymond: Thanks about the interesting part. True, I did make the mistake of having Illidan attack Seto first with his monsters since Malicious Fiend forces them to attack it first. My bad on that one. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thanks, both of you, for your reviews. I appreciate it.**

**Again, sorry for the lateness of this chapter. I will try to have something the week of the 30****th**** for an update, if not before since I have a few days off next week (Thanksgiving and the day after). Enjoy!**

**Stats from previous chapter:**

**Life Points: (Illidan = 4327; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Chaos Demon Chimera – Envoy of Judgment (3662/1000), Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (4500/2500), Dark Magician of Chaos (4300/2600), Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)**

**Seto: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000/2500)**

**Haou: None**

**Face up Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: Ultimate Offering (t)**

**Seto: None**

**Haou: None**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan = 4**

**Seto = 1**

**Haou = 2**

**Number of monsters in play:**

**Illidan = 4**

**Seto = 1**

**Haou = 0**

**Number of face down Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Seto = 2**

**Haou = 3**

**Number of face up Spell/Trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Seto = 0**

**Haou = 0**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Grave: 3**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 10**

**Turns since Seto played Card of Demise: 4**

**Chapter 41**

Staring at the majestic looking metallic dragon, Illidan folded his arms over his chest and slightly smirked. "So, you've summoned it. Good, now I can fully crush you into dust!"

Looking at the dragon himself, Haou felt himself let out a silent gasp at the sight of the dragon that was said to be nothing but a legend. "_I have heard many say this dragon is nothing but a myth, but now I see it before me._"

"As you know Illidan, my mighty dragon gains 300 attack points for every Dragon Type monster in my Graveyard." Seto spoke up with a famous smirk still plastered on his face. Holding his Duel Disk up and pointing at the Graveyard Slot, he calmly said "Right now, I have a grand total of six dragons in there, meaning my dragon gains 1800 extra attack points (3000 + 300 * 6 = 4800/2500)!"

Releasing a mighty roar that could be heard throughout the eternal dark realm of Dark World, the dragon began glowing with a light blue aura while it's power increased.

"To boot, my dragon is immune to all card effects."

In a low grunt, Illidan remarked "Only those cards that directly target it. I can easily wipe it out with Chaos Emperor Dragon on my turn."

"That is should your dragon survive that long, Illidan." Seto fired back with an even tone. Pulling the remaining card from his hand, he jammed it into his Duel Disk, saying "I activate the spell known as Dragon's Heart! This allows me to select three Dragon Type monsters from my deck and discard them to the Graveyard. Once I do that, my Blue-Eyes will gain an additional 1000 attack points, and to add insult to injury, my dragon gains 900 extra attack points due to it's special ability."

Pulling his deck out, the duelist in a white trench coat sifted through his deck for a moment till he finally selected three cards. Showing them to Illidan momentarily, he said "My choices are simple. I send Cave Dragon, Different Dimension Dragon, and Kaiser Glider to the Grave, making my dragon that much stronger (4800 + 1000 + 300 * 3 = 6700/2500)!"

One by one, the cards slid into Seto's Graveyard, till none were left. At that time, the metallic dragon released yet another horrific roar, seemingly shaking Dark World to it's very core from the volume of it.

"With that power boost, my dragon can take out any of your monsters. No monster left in your deck has this kind of power. Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, obliterate his Chaos Emperor Dragon with Shining Neutron Blast!"

Releasing a mighty roar once more, the metallic glowing dragon opened it's jaws, revealing a sphere of light blue energy. Gathering up more power, the dragon finally released the sphere and sent it hurtling towards the weaker black dragon. The sphere ripped completely through the dragon with ease before exploding before Illidan, sending him skidding backwards five feet.

Coming to a stop and flashing an angered look at Seto, Illidan's crimson eyes pulsated slightly for a moment before he ground out "You…"

Calming himself, he icily said "Let's not forget Kaiba, the more damage you do to me, the more powerful my Chaos Demon Chimera becomes (3662 + 1100 = 4762/1000)."

Growling softly while it's body's strength increased, the black plasma creature body glowed with a light red aura. Finishing up, the creature turned a cruel eye towards the glowing dragon, which let out a mighty roar to stave off the stare.

"I must end my turn now, but know this, I will save you, Illidan (6700 – 1000 = 5700/2500)!" (Illidan = 2627; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Drawing his new card, Haou eyed it for a moment before smirking. "I set one card and activate Card of Demise. I now draw till I hold five cards in my hand, but in five turns I must discard my hand."

Picking up five cards at once, the black armored duelist examined the new cards and slightly smirked. "I reveal my face down spell, Monster Reincarnation. For this, I must discard a card to activate, so I toss this worthless card."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Haou waited patiently while it was sucked down into the slot. Once in, he added "I may now return one monster from my Graveyard to my hand, so I pick Evil Hero Malicious Edge."

Sliding out, the monster card came to rest at the edge of Haou's Graveyard Slot. Picking it up, he slid it into his left hand and selected another card and slapped it to his Duel Disk, saying "I special summon Evil Hero Inferno Prodigy (300/600)."

Materializing instantly onto the field was a creature with black and brown armor on it's body, black elongated horns on it's head, black bat like wings on it's back, and a long black tail. The creature evilly smirked, seemingly plotting.

"When my opponent controls a monster, but I do not, I can special summon him. Next, I sacrifice him to summon Evil Hero Malicious Edge (2600/1800)."

Vanishing in a flash, the black and brown armored creature disappeared, making room for the familiar dark blue armored warrior with needle like spikes sticking out from his hands.

Holding another card up, Haou calmly said "I activate this spell, Riryoku. This card halves the attack points of one monster, your Chaos Demon Chimera (4762 / 2 = 2381/1000) in particular, and adds those points to another, being my Malicious Edge (2600 + 2381 = 4981/1800)."

Glowing with a sickly color red, the black plasma creature let out a pained cry while it's strength was instantly cut in half. At the same time, the dark blue armored warrior let out a cry while his body glowed with a bright red aura as his strength increased.

"Impressive Haou, but a wasted effort." Illidan snidely remarked. "You quickly forget that Chaos Demon Chimera can't be destroyed due to battle, so long as I remove a Dark Attribute monster from my Graveyard. Last I checked, I still had plenty left."

"Perhaps you should check once more after I activate my trap, Hero's Rule 1 Five Freedoms. This forces both of us to remove from play five cards of a certain type, which is my choice. My pick is monsters, so remove from play your five Dark Attribute monsters Illidan, since it is all that you have." Haou calmly demanded.

Glaring fiercely at Haou, Illidan held his hand over his Graveyard Slot, which slowly pushed all five of his remaining monster cards out. Picking them up with anger visibly flashing in his eyes, he placed them into his removed from play slot. At the same time, Haou did the same thing.

"Perhaps you find this ironic, Illidan. After all, it was this body that defeated you once before when Jaden was in control of himself. And now, it seems as though you shall fall once more to this body, but this time in a more humiliating and crushing defeat."

Pointing at the plasma creature, the black armored duelist calmly said "Go Malicious Edge, crush his pathetic creature!"

Leaping into the air, the dark blue armored warrior flung his needles at the weaker plasma creature. The needles easily slid through the creature, making it howl out in pain and explode, sending a plume of smoke up into the air and hiding the entire field within itself. After a moment, the smoke cleared, revealing a seething Illidan sitting on one of his knees and lightly panting.

"Now do you understand, Illidan!?" Seto angrily questioned. "There is no chance of victory for you. All you have left are your Dark Armed Dragon and Dark Magician of Chaos, both of which are weaker than my dragon. Even if you run the risk of attacking Haou, you will leave yourself wide open for a devastating attack by my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. And as you very well known, it cannot be stopped!"

Flashing a brief glance of irritation at his partner, Haou smartly added "What my partner means is that you will fail to conquer me. I am not one to be trifled with, Illidan Stormrage. Your time has come to an end."

"In the meantime, I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Snapping off two cards, Haou glanced at them momentarily before sliding both into his empty Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these cards and move to my End Phase, in which two things happen. First, thanks to Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy being sacrificed, I draw one card. Next, Malicious Edge loses the extra strength he gained (2600/1800). At that, I end my turn." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Clenching his fist tightly while standing with anger flaring from his crimson eyes, Illidan drew his card rapidly and angrily yelled "It's time to do what I should have done previously! Annihilate Haou and his pathetic creature Dark Magician of Chaos!"

Twirling his staff, the mage stopped it at last and pointed it directly at the weaker dark blue armored warrior. Without hesitation, he released a burst of black magical energy that crackled upon being fired.

Before the blast could hit, the warrior glowed with a light red aura for a moment. From the aura, a set of dull gray armor that had numerous spiked edges appeared on the warrior. With a maniacal laugh, the warrior slammed it's fist into the oncoming blast, stopping it effectively. Surprising the mage, the warrior flung the blast at him, shattering the mage on contact.

"Sorry Illidan, but you'll have to do better than that. I revealed my trap, Sakuretsu Armor, when you attacked. This destroys the attacking monster, meaning you're down to one monster now." Haou stated.

Grinding his teeth together, Illidan snarled out "I've had enough of this! Dark Armed Dragon, destroy that creature now!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dark gray dragon took a began to swing it's tail at the weaker warrior, only to stop when a totem pole shot up out of the ground. Instantly, it released a shrill shriek, causing the dragon to stop moving and lowly grunt out.

"I activate Command Silencer. This negates your attack. After that, I may draw one card." Haou calmly stated while picking up a card.

Angered greatly, Illidan roughly jammed two cards into his Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these and end!" (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Quietly drawing his card, Seto held it up and calmly said "It's been five turns since I activated Card of Demise, so I must discard my hand. Luckily for me, this is a Dragon Type monster known as Thunder Dragon, so Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon gets stronger (5700 + 300 = 6000/2500)."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, Seto began to say something, but was cut off by Illidan shouting out "I activate this trap, Threatening Roar! When I activate this, you can't declare an attack this turn. Too bad, you won't be doing anything this turn."

"Why you…" Seto growled lowly with frustration visible. "Fine Illidan, I end, but you know Haou will do something, so enjoy your brief reprieve." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Picking up a card, Haou examined it for a moment before saying "I switch Malicious Edge into defense and set one card. End turn." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Drawing his own card, Illidan roughly jammed his new card into his Duel Disk, saying "I activate the equip spell Hellish Absorption! This card gives Dark Armed Dragon 500 more attack points (2800 + 500 = 3300/1000) and every time it destroys a monster, my opponent takes 500 points of direct damage. Go, crush Haou's pathetic warrior!"

Roaring loudly, the dark gray dragon swung it's tail into action and slammed it into the dark blue armored warrior. The warrior tried to resist the attack, but was unable to due to the ferocity of the dragon's power. Finally, the warrior shattered, leaving a small explosion in it's wake.

"You may have destroyed my monster, but not my life points. I play my trap, Fusion Guard. By discarding a random Fusion Type monster from my deck, I can negate the effect damage." Haou informed while pulling out his fusion deck. Selecting a random card, he looked at it and held it out to show Illidan.

"My selection is Evil Hero Infernal Sniper. It was a useless card anyways."

Growling lightly while watching the card being sucked into Haou's Graveyard Slot, Illidan grit out "I end my turn with a face down." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Silently drawing his card, Seto examined it momentarily before calling out "Time to end this duel! Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, destroy his Dark Armed Dragon with Shining Neutron Blast!"

Roaring loudly, the large metallic dragon opened it's jaws, revealing a sphere of light blue energy. Just as the dragon was about to release it's blast, a card on Illidan's field suddenly raised up.

"Hold that thought, Seto, for I play a trap that shall make you happy, perhaps." Illidan smartly remarked. "I reveal Absolute End, which has all attacks this turn committed by your monsters become direct attacks on myself."

"Wait, you're making my attack a direct one!?" Seto roared in shock.

Receiving a nod, Seto glanced at his dragon and watched as the blast was released and sent flying directly towards his former friend. "_That makes no sense! Why allow me to direct attack him!? He'll lose either way, but this way he'll probably be killed alone by the blast!_"

Smirking at the confusion on his opponent's face, Illidan calmly pointed at another face down card, which slowly rose up. "I activate another trap, with this one being called Dimension Wall. Thanks to this trap, instead of me taking the Battle Damage, you take it for me. Looks like your dragon is about to obliterate a chunk of your life points."

"So that's why!" Seto declared with realization setting in.

Appearing before the oncoming sphere of light blue energy instantly was a multicolored rift. The blast was swallowed up completely by the rift. Behind Seto, another multicolored rift suddenly opened up, with light blue energy starting to pour out of it.

Turning to see this, he held out the single card in his hand, saying "I'm not going down that easily Illidan! I play my spell, Ring of Defense, which saves my life points!"

Materializing immediately before Seto was a green metallic ring with four panels folded in towards the center. Slowly beginning to spin, the ring's momentum flipped the panels out one by one, making it take the shape of a defensive shield. The ring picked up more speed till the blast finally struck it. Upon being struck, the ring flung the blast away in spurts, sending part of it flying harmlessly away onto the ground. At long last, the ring came to a stop once the blast subsided.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Seto returned his attention to Illidan, who was smirking proudly. "I'm done for this turn, but know you can't keep this up forever, Illidan." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Picking up a new card, Haou smirked and turned it to face Illidan. "It's time I finish you, once and for all. I activate Dark Calling. This spell allows me to remove from play monsters in my Graveyard or field to call forth a Fusion Monster like I would with Dark Fusion. I remove from my Graveyard The Dark – Hex-Sealed Fusion (1000/1600), which I count as Valkyrion the Magna Warrior (3500/3850), and Evil Hero Malicious Edge to create Evil Hero Gaia (?/0)."

Materializing onto the field in ghost like forms were the dark blue armored warrior with needles held in his hands, along with the black rock like creature with pink tentacles sticking out from it. The two swirled together with little warning, forming a bright light. From the light, a new winged creature in gray rock like armor that covered most of his body. It had a long tail with an arrow head on the end, a pair of clawed feet, clawed hands, a rock like helmet that covered all but it's mouth, and a set of bat like wings with red skin and lava like veins pumping through them. The creature let out a mighty battle cry, sending out a wave of fear towards the dark gray dragon, but the dragon stood it's ground instead.

Eyeing the creature, Illidan calmly asked with a cocked eyebrow "Attack points?"

"Dark Gaia is a Fusion Summon that consists of a Fiend Type and a Rock Type set of monsters. It's attack points are equal to the original attack points of the two monsters that I fused together. As you have no doubt surmised, the reason I choose Valkyrion was it's points (2600 + 3500 = 6100/0)."

Glowing with a dark red aura, the powerful stone armored warrior let out a yell while his strength increased.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan clapped his hands together slightly in a mocking gesture, calmly saying "Impressive. I see, so Evil Hero Malicious Fiend was only the opening act for the true power that lurked within your deck."

"The most powerful of my Evil Heroes is on the field, Illidan. Your feeble attempt at victory is over." Haou declared. Pointing an armored finger at the dark gray dragon, he called out "Finish him off, Dark Gaia. Dark Catastrophe!"

Holding his arms out while rising into the air, the stone armored warrior spread his wings out to full length and let out a yell. Lava instantly erupted from the ground behind the warrior, with a large rock rising from out of it. The rock instantly broke into millions of pieces and went flying towards the dark gray dragon.

Smirking, Illidan calmly remarked "You just never learn to check the field, do you?"

Eyeing the remaining face down card Illidan had, Haou began to say something, but was cut off by Illidan. "Your mistake will be costly! I reveal Sakuretsu Armor! As you know, this powerful card will destroy your feeble Dark Gaia."

Forming around the dragon in a dark glow in a second was a set of dull gray armor, which had numerous spikes sticking out of it. The rocks struck the armor hard, which held fast. Within a moment, the rock suddenly reversed course and began pelting the rock armored warrior, who released a mighty cry before shattering into millions of pixels.

Eyes widening at the destruction of his creature, the black armored duelist began to say something, but no words formed. Insane cackling instantly filled the air, diverting the armored duelist's attention to the wild brown haired duelist.

"Your face is priceless! You actually thought you could defeat me!? How foolish of you, Jaden!" Illidan sharply remarked.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Haou finally replied "I end my turn." (Illidan = 27; Seto = 7800, Haou = 657)

Drawing a new card, Illidan smirked at it and turned the card towards the pair. "I'll begin with a familiar card. I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up a few new cards."

Snapping off two cards, he smirked evilly at both. "It's time I crushed you both. I activate a spell that will reshape this entire duel. I play Chaos Revisited! This allows me to special summon any monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile to the field, so long as I give up half my life points. My choice is simple. I choose Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)."

In a glow of dark energy, the blue skinned mage wearing tight fitting black leather armor with a staff in hand and a strange mage's hat reappeared onto the field. His gaze shifted from Seto to Haou before he finally looked away.

"With the return of this worthless mage, his effect is triggered. I can now return one spell from my Graveyard to my hand, and my choice is Chaos Revisited."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, the wild brown haired duelist smirked as the spell card slowly slid out and into his awaiting hand. Taking hold of it, he shifted it into his left hand and picked another card.

"I activate another spell, known as Double Spell. By discarding a spell card, like Chaos Fusion, I can use a spell from one of your two's Graveyard. I choose Seto's Pot of Greed, so I pick up two more cards."

Silently drawing two cards, he examined the new cards and smirked at them. "I activate Chaos Revisited once more, allowing me to pay half my life points again, this time to revive Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Rematerializing onto the field slowly was the powerful black dragon with an orange mane and mighty wings. The dragon let out a soft roar while casting a sideways glance at the blue skinned mage before returning his vision forward.

"And now, with my dragon's return, the stage is set. I first activate this spell, Mystik Wok. With it, I can sacrifice one of my monsters and add their attack or defense points to my score. I choose Dark Armed Dragon, boosting my score by 3300 life points."

With a light glow, the dark gray dragon vanished into particles while the brown haired duelist's life points increased.

"Now then, I summon Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in defense."

Materializing onto the field slowly in a kneeling position with her hands clasped together was a purple haired woman with a pale skin complexion, wearing a set of long flowing black robes.

Growling lightly, Seto muttered "Damn you…"

"Damned I might be, but it is the two of you that are damned forever to walk in the darkness. At that, it is time to say farewell to you, Haou."

Darkly chuckling, he added "I activate Chaos Emperor Dragon's special ability. By paying 1000 life points, I can now destroy all cards on the field and in our hands. Go, Infinite Blaster!"

Releasing a light growl, the black dragon took flight and moved to the middle of the dueling field. Landing softly, the dragon closed it's eyes and began to glow with a light white aura. Slowly, bit by bit, the glow of the dragon's aura began increasing to a blinding white light. With a thunderous roar, the dragon exploded at long last, causing both Haou and Seto to scream out in pain from the force of the explosion. One by one, the creatures and other cards on the field were swallowed up by the explosion, hiding everything in the area.

Gradually after five minutes, the smoke from the blast subsided, with Illidan surveying the damage. In the aftermath of the carnage, the remains of the few trees that had survived the pre-battle festivities were burnt to a crisp. The ground was turned black from the sheer force of the explosion, with nothing but the three duelists remaining.

Weakly breathing while on his knees, the smoldering form of Seto slowly, but defiantly, raised his head up to glare up at a smirking Illidan. Finally tearing away his gaze, he glanced beside of himself to find the battered and smoldering form of a duelist wearing a red jacket with a black undershirt and gray pants.

"Jaden…" Seto murmured lowly.

Light chuckling filled the air once more, this time causing Seto to look back at Illidan, who he spied was the source. "So, Jaden has returned to his true self. Thank God. That annoying personality of Haou's was beginning to grow a bit boring to me. Once he comes to, I'll make short work of him."

Struggling to stand back up, Seto glared at the wild brown haired duelist and darkly muttered "That's if you make it past me."

"Don't be absurd, Seto." Illidan grunted in reply. "You don't stand a chance against me, especially since you lost your dragon. Ah yes, that reminds me, we need to calculate the damage that you just took. Since I had four cards in play, you had three…"

"Actually, Illidan, if you look closer, you'll find I had only one." Seto sharply remarked.

Frowning, the wild brown haired duelist glanced closer and noted that one card was still in his opponent's Spell/Trap Slots, along with the dragon card was on his Duel Disk. In an indignant grunt, he asked "What did you do?"

"While you were busy with thinking of taking Haou out, I activated my trap, Interdimensional Matter Transporter. This allowed me to remove from play my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon just as your dragon released it's blast. Plus, since I lost a face down card, you only got credit for destroying one of my cards." Seto explained.

Lightly growling, Illidan snapped back "Fine then, you only had one card, meaning five thus far. Haou had two face downs, along with a card in his hand, meaning he had three, giving us a total of eight cards on the field at the time. My dragon's effect now takes that number and multiplies it by 300, meaning you lose 2400 life points."

"Very well, but you're wide open for me next turn."

Darkly chuckling, Illidan shook his head and replied "Wrong yet again Seto. Remember, I had Witch of the Black Forest on the field. When she went to the Graveyard, I earned the right to transfer any monster from my deck to my hand, so long as it has 1500 or less defense points."

Pulling his deck out, the brown haired duelist slowly fanned through his cards till he found the one he desired. Pulling it out, he displayed it to his opponent before shuffling his deck back together.

"As you just saw, my selection was Kuriboh. At that, I shall end, meaning your dragon returns."

On cue, a multicolored rift opened above Seto's field. Slowly, the metallic dragon descended from it, releasing a soft growl upon doing so.

"I think that's enough, for now." (Illidan = 2306, Seto = 5400)

Growling lightly while drawing a card, Seto glanced at it and released a grunt of frustration. "_Of all times to draw a card I can't use, why now!? Alright, my options are that I have to keep attacking. Illidan can stall me this turn, but next I'll have a shot at his life points, possibly. Both of us are top decking, and right now, I have the advantage with my Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon. He needs something with over 6000 attack points to beat it. I just have to keep fighting, no matter what._"

Releasing a small sigh, Seto locked his eyes on Illidan and yelled "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, attack with Shining Neutron Blast!"

Letting out a mighty screech, the dragon took aim and spat out a blast of light blue energy straight at the brown haired duelist. Before the blast could even touch him, a wall of brown furball like creatures with short stubby green arms and legs appeared onto the field. They absorbed the blast easily, keeping it from reaching the dragon's original target.

"See, my Kuriboh has protected me by discarding it." Illidan informed while placing his lone card into his Graveyard Slot.

Clenching his right fist, Seto growled out "I end!" (Illidan = 2306, Seto = 5400)

"Now then, I draw." Illidan declared while picking up a new card. Examining it, he frowned but let out a light chuckle afterwards. "Looks like our game has come to an end, Seto. I activate Card of Demise! As you know, I draw till I hold five cards, and in five turns, I must discard my entire hand."

Pulling five cards off of the top of his deck and placing them into his left hand, Illidan fanned them out and sneered. "I first activate D.D.R – Different Dimension Reincarnation! By tossing out a useless card, I can now special summon one monster from my removed from play pile to the field. My selection is simple, it's my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

A dark aura suddenly appeared onto the field before Illidan. Slowly rising out of it was the blue skinned mage wearing black tight fitting leather armor with a staff and strange mage's hat on his head. He flicked his red irises for a glance at Seto, but quickly returned his vision to the ground before himself.

"With his return, my mage's special ability returns one spell card to my hand. I choose Chaos Revisited."

Sliding out of his Graveyard Slot and into his awaiting hand was the chosen spell card for the wild brown haired duelist. He instantly flashed it at Seto, saying "And next, I activate Chaos Revisited, allowing me to revive my Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500) for merely half my life points!"

Rising up onto the field in a flash was the large black dragon with a massive wingspan. It took a place next to the blue skinned mage, but didn't growl or make a sound at all.

"Your creatures are impressive Illidan, but you're wasting your time thinking you can defeat my dragon with either of them." Seto informed.

Smirking evilly, Illidan simply replied "You just don't get it, yet. I activate another spell, Foolish Burial! Thanks to this card, I may send a monster from my deck to my Graveyard."

Pulling his deck out and sorting through it, the wild brown haired duelist finally found the card he desired and reshuffled his deck and replaced it in it's slot. Showing the card to Seto, he said "I send Shining Angel to my Graveyard, but don't expect him to remain there for long, for I remove from play both Shining Angel and Kuriboh in order to special summon the mighty Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000)!"

Gradually, a new human like creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes appeared onto the field. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well. Once fully on the field, the monster let out a small battle cry.

Holding his last card up, Illidan closed his crimson eyes for a moment, only to reveal them once more with a gleam in them that spoke of great destruction. Seeing this, Seto mumbled in his mind "_Those eyes, he's enjoying doing this. It's like he has lost the last traces of his humanity in an instant. There is nothing left, nothing but a soulless creature bound to destroy everything and everyone he comes in contact with._"

"And now for the card that will devastate you. I activate Chaos Fusion, allowing me to fuse all three of my Chaos creatures together to form your destroyer."

Eyes widening, Seto felt sweat beginning to form on his forehead upon Illidan making his statement. "_The power that a fusion of two of his Chaos creatures was almost uncontainable, so what will happen when he fuses three of them together!?_"

Glowing one by one, the two mages and the black dragon each took on a black aura. For a moment, nothing else happened, till the three finally lifted off of the ground and began to swirl together slowly. Dark clouds suddenly blotted out the sky, with lightning flashing wildly from them and thunder booming.

Without warning, a blast of lightning slammed into the ground behind Illidan, causing Seto to look away for a moment. Slowly, the light faded, allowing him to look back at the wild brown haired duelist. Behind him stood a massive hulking form of a light blue tinted creature that had a mechanical look to it, with massive black wings jutting out from each shoulder. The creature's arms were large and resembled the purple skinned mage's, except they looked far more deadly and mechanical. In the creature's right hand was a long black staff that had a curled up end with a red orb within it. For the most part, the body of the creature looked like a mixture of a human and dragon. It wore black tight fitting leather armor. The creature's feet were three pronged claws with each leg being rather thick. The creature's skin was a violet color and looked oily but thick. On the creature's head was a black metallic flacon helmet with a rusty grille down that covered it's face, but gave sight to the monster's eyes, which were a dark and evil looking crimson color.

"Welcome to the field Chaos Twilight Lord Omega – Envoy of Destruction (?/?)!"

Eyeing the creature with suspicion in his eyes, Seto softly asked "What the… What the hell is that thing, and how many attack points does it have?"

Darkly chuckling, Illidan icily replied "Lord Omega's attack and defense points are determined by adding up every single Light and Dark Attribute monsters' points in my Graveyard together. Right now, I have six monsters, which are Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500), Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600), Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000), Chaos Demon Chimera – Envoy of Judgment (0/4000), Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000), and Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200). Totaled together, that is 12000 attack points and 13300 defense points (3000 + 2800 + 2300 + 0 + 2800 + 1100 = 12000/2500 + 2600 + 2000 + 4000 + 1000 + 1200 = 13300)."

Releasing a mighty growl, the black armored creature's body glowed with a brilliant dark red aura while it's strength increased.

"It has double my dragon's attack points!" Seto exclaimed in complete shock and terror.

"Right you are, Seto." Illidan remarked. "But with great power comes drawbacks, as I'm sure you are well aware of. During the end of the turn that I deal you Battle Damage, I receive direct damage equal to the half of my creature's attack points. Still, that is a price I would be willing to pay, but won't have to due that you won't be here for much longer."

Realizing his opponent was correct, Seto released a sigh of relief and slowly smirked. "I see, you've won. I do have one question thought Illidan. What will you do with me?"

"I told you once before what I would do. I shall repeat myself, just this one time. I am going to take your soul. Now be gone!"

Raising it's staff up, the creature's staff began glowing with a brilliant red aura. In a flash, the staff transformed into a long, blood red demon blade that looked like it was forged from the pits of Hell itself. Sweeping it across through the air before itself, the black armored creature leapt across the field towards the metallic dragon. The dragon was froze in it's spot, seemingly unsure of what to do. With a single swing, the black armored creature cleanly cleaved the dragon's head off of it's body. The head floated through the air for a moment before the dragon's body exploded, sending thunderous shockwaves throughout the area and smoke high into the air.

After a few minutes, the smoke slowly cleared, revealing the form of Seto Kaiba laying on the ground on his stomach. His body slowly began to be engulfed in a black haze, which was pulling him into the Shadow Realm. Weakly looking up at Illidan, he whispered "Who are you?"

Sneering down at the fallen form of his former friend, Illidan brazenly replied "I'm the one Lucifer will learn to fear."


	43. Chapter 42: Returning the Favor, Pt 1

**Hey gang! Well, things are finally starting to calm down once again at work. It's only taken a few months, lol, but it's all starting to slow down. I finished up a majority of my project last week, with only a few finishing touches necessary Monday, with some testing on Tuesday. Today, I'm kind of just sitting here for the most part. Hmm, other than that, this week is semi-busy with family and all. Tomorrow is Turkey Day, meaning a trip to my dad's place to celebrate it with his side of the family, which is fun and all. Then Friday, I go see my mom, grandparents, sister, and her boyfriend, which should be fun. I still worry about my grandfather, I guess due to the stuff my grandmother says he talks about. He sees people who have been dead for quite a while, so that worries me due that my step mom's mom (my step grandmother, I suppose, lol) did the same thing when she was close to dying. I really hate thinking about such things, but I know we all have to go sometime or another. (/Sighs\) I don't know, I just feel so confused. I want my grandfather to not die, but at the same time, I know he has to be suffering and wish he could pass on to be free from it.**

**Ok, enough of that. Too much serious thinking. At any rate, writing wise, I've been trying to get into it the best I can. I managed to crank out this chapter fairly easily this week, thankfully. I still have a lot to do on this story, along with ardee, plus I have my other story, **_**Another**_**, to finish up. I want to finish this story before the end of the year, but I'm thinking more like the end of January now, sadly. As for **_**Another**_**, ha, I wish I could be done that quickly. I just need a few weeks to do nothing but write, lol.**

**Alright, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Raymmond Barrett: Thanks, hehe. Yeah, if I had more thumbs too, life would be so much easier, hehe. Glad you liked the chapter, and yeah, Illidan beat both, proving just how much stronger he is. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yep, a bit bone chilling. Heh, true, there are a lot of Chaos cards. Really, we began with only a few in mind, but eventually, it progressed to this point. And the kicker is, well, it'll be explained later. It will explain why they are so powerful and all. Heh, true, it would be interesting if Lucifer had a Chaos Deck also, but alas, not so. Or at least I think not… Hehe, gotta keep everyone guessing about it. Lol, blonde power. We'll see, but no promises. Thanks for the review!**

**x-knight20: It's alright man. That's too bad about your dad. I'm so sorry about it. Real life always takes precedence first, so never feel guilty or bad about not reviewing. I completely understand. Illidan could return to his normal self, but looking at these results, not likely. Thanks about the fusions, and for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Glad you liked the chapter. Heh, yeah, the duel was really long, but good also. Yep, Jaden and Kaiba are gone and spending a relaxing vacation in the Shadow Realm. Two dark halves? Never know. Same for Illidan and Marie facing off. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Heh, yeah, better late than never is always good. Thanks for about the quality of our work. We try hard to keep everyone happy with whatever we finish up with. Glad you really liked the chapters. Yep, Illidan has completely changed, along with his deck and strategy. He's no longer the caring person he once was but a person out on a mission apparently. True, he seems to be by far the most dangerous person (thus far) in Dark World at the moment. Yep, the new Chaos fusions are insanely powerful, with each becoming far more powerful than the last. Heh, we're a pretty good team, it's true. Whether we do another story on something or not is still up in the air, I suppose, hehe. Glad the battle kept you guessing. It's all good about not reviewing. I know sometimes you just don't know what to say, or have no time to do so. It happens. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all five of you, for your reviews. I much appreciate all of them. They're a big boost and great feedback on this story. Again, thank you for that. It's always good to know where the story stands and what it may or may not need.**

**At any rate, I may or may not have a chapter next week. It depends on how much time I have to write. With work finally getting freed up, I may have one next week, but again, we'll see about it. I still have a chapter for **_**Another**_** to write up. Anyways, I guarantee within the next week or two, there will be a new chapter. Till then, enjoy!**

**Chapter 42**

Quietly running off towards what looked like a large mushroom cloud, Marie, with Zane beside of her, Syrus and Jesse behind her, continued moving towards the explosion. She had felt what seemed like a familiar set of Shadow Powers earlier in the day, but was unsure if she was right or not. Determined to find out, she had gathered up the group and began moving towards it.

The longer the day had dragged on, the more she had sensed something was wrong, till finally she had felt the Shadow Powers of someone she thought was Illidan, but wasn't sure due that the strength of that person's Shadow Powers she felt wasn't quite right for him. Determined to find out who this person was, she had got the group to begin moving faster towards the area she felt the powers coming from. Then it happened, she felt a massive explosion of Shadow Magic and ushered the others into a full run towards the selected area.

Soon enough, she had felt the powers of the Shadows coming forth and creating a Shadow Game. Sensing who was in it, she picked up three signatures, one being familiar enough to identify as Seto, but the other two she was confused about. Both seemed familiar, with the one being Illidan's, but she quickly grew concerned due that the power being output by him was far greater than he could possibly output. The other signature she determined was Jaden's, but again, she was concerned due that the signature seemed too strong for him also.

She had quickly pushed the concerned thoughts out of her head and continued moving the group towards the fight. Within a mile, the group suddenly saw and felt a huge explosion in the area that the fight was taking place. A large mushroom cloud filled the air while the explosion rocked the entire world of Dark World to it's core.

With the smoke dissipating, Marie quickly reached out with her senses, finding that one of the three people were down. Immediately, she realized that the signature that she thought was Jaden's was gone, with Seto's now being weaker than before while the one she believed was Illidan's remained as strong as ever.

Fearing for both her friend and husband, she glanced over at Zane, who seemed to be sensing the same thing she was. Nodding to him, she quietly said "Zane, bring Syrus and Jesse with you. I'm going to go ahead."

"Be careful. Something doesn't seem right." he warned.

Smiling lightly, she softly replied "No need to worry. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. Just be careful yourself. See you there."

With that, she summoned up her Shadow Powers and mentally initiated the technique Illidan had shown her long ago called Inner Fire. Finding it and activating it, she instantly increased her speed and raced away from the three young men.

Running towards the battleground before her, she mentally said "_Illidan and Seto, just please stay alive till I get there._"

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Nearly within sight of the battlefield, Marie sensed a buildup of Shadow Magic within the area, making her realize that the battle was just ending. She immediately sensed that Seto was the one who had lost the ending Shadow Game, which confused and yet deeply troubled her. Arriving, she watched in utter shock as Seto's body was vanishing while beside of his vanishing body was an unconscious Jaden.

Unsure of what to make of the chaos from the fallout of the battle, she glanced across the field to see a familiar person. Her breath instantly hitched in her throat as she took in the form of her husband, wearing a tattered black button up t-shirt with a red dragon on the back of it and a pair of dirty and torn jeans. His brown hair, which was usually brushed out was wild and untamed.

Still confused about the scene, she moved towards her husband and came to a stop with ten feet separating them. "Illidan…" she murmured softly.

Hearing his name, the wild haired duelist turned towards Marie, making her gasp in surprise and shock at him. Looking into his eyes, she saw that his eyes no longer were their normal dark brown color that held happiness and compassion, but now were a crimson red that held anger and malice within them.

In a grunt, Illidan said "Stay away Marie."

"Illidan… What happened to your eyes?" she questioned while ignoring his command.

Not replying, the brown haired duelist turned away and began to walk off, only to hear Marie start moving towards him. Spinning around quickly with a crazed look, he yelled "I said stay away!"

Surprised at his words and attitude, Marie took an involuntary step backwards, but came to a stop quickly. "Illidan, what's wrong?"

"Go away Marie. I have no time for you." Illidan growled out while turning away once more.

Watching her husband starting to leave again, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Not willing to let him walk away, she broke into a deadbolt towards him. Before she was halfway there, the air became thick with Shadow Magic. Unafraid, she continued towards him, only to have a black sphere of energy to slam into the ground before her feet, bringing her to a stop.

Looking up at Illidan with surprised and hurt eyes, she felt her tears wishing to be freed when she saw nothing but anger in his eyes. Shaking her head slightly while trembling, she whispered "Why…"

"Leave now Marie, if you wish to live. I have no desire to see you." he harshly barked out.

With his words said, he turned away once more and began to leave. Unable to hold herself back any longer, Marie broke into another run towards Illidan, only to come face to face with a sphere of Shadow Magic.

"If you insist on continuing to pester me, I will not hesitate to eliminate you, Marie. I have no desire to speak with you, so you'd better leave now." Illidan grit out while anger seethed out from his crimson eyes.

Shaking her head a bit in disbelief, she felt hot tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. In a weak voice, she asked "Why, why are you doing this Illidan!? It's me, Marie! Why won't you acknowledge me!?"

"Because you no longer exist in my heart." he coldly replied. "If that doesn't register in your brain, then I will make sure you realize what I mean when I crush you mercilessly."

"But…"

"No buts! If you wish to live, then go away!" Illidan ground out. "I will not tell you again. Now leave, or I'll finish you off and feed you to the Shadows."

Looking into his crimson eyes, Marie felt her heart twist at what she saw. In them, she saw anger, rage, fury, and hatred, which were things she had rarely ever seen, and when they had been there, were only directed at his enemies, never at her.

"_Illidan, what happened to you!? Why, why are you like this!?_" she screamed in her mind.

Hearing approaching footsteps, the pair glanced behind Marie to see that Zane, Syrus, and Jesse had finally arrived, with Syrus and Jesse out of breath. Staring in shock at Illidan, Zane glanced around the area, allowing him to easily see the unconscious form of Jaden. Looking back at Illidan, he softly asked "Marie, are you alright?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, she finally muttered "I'll be fine, Zane. I'm not hurt."

"If any of you are looking for a fight, I'd leave." Illidan sternly declared with a touch of anger flashing in his eyes.

Beginning to take a step forward, Zane was stopped when Illidan raised his other hand with a sphere of Shadow Magic swirling within it at him. "Don't tempt me, Zane. I've been interrupted enough today, and to destroy you, along with Marie and the others, I would not hesitate for a moment. I've had enough of these interruptions, so leave with your pathetic lives so I can move on."

"What is it you plan on doing?" Marie's horse voice asked while tears were still in her eyes.

Glancing at her, Illidan harshly replied "That is for me to know. Now stand down."

Reaching up and wiping the tears out of her eyes, Marie quietly said "You're not Illidan, that much I'm certain of."

"You are blind, woman." Illidan fiercely remarked. "I may not be the same person you fell in love with, but I have not forgotten who I am. I am Illidan Stormrage, and I am the one that will set things right. Now stand down, or I'll make all of you."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Marie calmly replied "Whatever has control of you is forcing you to act like this Illidan."

Releasing an insane laugh, Illidan coldly said "You are a true idiot, Marie. There is no one controlling me. I have simply immersed myself into the darkness, allowing me to gain powers far beyond your comprehension."

"_So, that explains the reason his signature felt different earlier. If I had to guess, Jaden did the same thing._" Marie mumbled within her mind.

Staring her husband straight in the face, Marie calmly said "I see, then I have no choice but to do for you what you did for me. Illidan, I challenge you to a duel!"

"You must be joking." Illidan harshly remarked. "Why should I waste my time with you!?"

Not flinching at his words, Marie icily replied "Because even though you tell me you have no feelings in your heart for me, I can tell, you still do care about me. That's why you haven't killed me yet. No matter what you say, I can tell that a piece of you still loves me, hence you could never kill me."

"You're wrong Marie." Illidan smartly replied. "I have the power to take your life, if I so choose."

Remaining calm, but feeling her heart aching at the same time, Marie quietly said "What do you have to lose in dueling me? If you have any part of your former self left, you'll know that you've rarely lost to me in a duel."

"Why should I bother!? You're nothing but a pest that I could easily eliminate right now!" Illidan snarled with anger flaring in his eyes.

Looking down at the ground to keep herself focused, Marie softly replied "If that is so, why not prove you are beyond my help by dueling me. Once I'm gone, you'd have no one left that could be a threat to you."

Growling loudly, Illidan began to reply, but stopped. Both orbs of Shadow Magic vanished in a flash, with him stepping backwards and holding his left arm out. "Fine, you want to prove something, then come on and prove to me you're not the weakling I know you are! You will never defeat me, so crushing you might prove entertaining."

Slowly raising her gaze to meet Illidan's cold one, Marie quietly said "I want to lay down the rules of this duel first."

"Whatever."

"If I win, you relinquish the darkness and return to the way you were. Plus, you release Seto and undo whatever it is you did to Jaden."

Letting out a dark chuckle, Illidan smartly replied "Agreed, although I don't think I'll release Haou."

Seeing the confused look coming from his wife and the others, the wild haired duelist calmly said "Jaden here gave into his own darkness, allowing a being known as Haou to be reborn. Jaden is his reincarnation, but was never capable of taking control of Jaden's body. Upon entering Dark World, he gained control and took over Jaden's mind and called himself the Supreme King of Dark World. In the end though, the Supreme King proved powerless against me, even with help from Seto."

Watching his wife digest the information, Illidan smirked and added "Now then, time for my rules should you lose. Once you lose, you will join Seto in the darkness of the Shadow Realm, never to return. You understand, this will be the end."

"Fine. I'll just have to not lose." Marie remarked with a touch of confidence in her voice.

"Ah, a little fire still in you, eh Marie?" Illidan taunted. "Good, because I don't want you going easy on me. I won't on you, that's for sure. Come at me with all you have so in the end, you'll know you truly failed!"

Lightly growling, Marie slipped her backpack off and pulled the Duel Disk that was on it's side off. Throwing her bag to Zane, she calmly said "Take care of Jaden you guys, and stay back. I'll handle this."

"Professor Marie…" Syrus mumbled with worry in his voice.

Glancing back at the three behind her, she softly smiled and said "Don't worry guys, I'll be fine. I know Illidan is still in there, somewhere."

"You're a fool to believe my weaknesses will resurface." Illidan barked out, forcing Marie to return her full gaze to Illidan. Holding his left arm out, a dark light began swirling around his arm till a black Duel Disk formed. Pulling a deck out of his right pants pocket, he jammed it into the Deck Slot, causing the Duel Disk to power up and push it's arm out and extend.

Doing the same, Marie placed her deck into it's slot, activating her own Duel Disk immediately. "I won't hold back Illidan. Not now, when I must fight harder than ever to save you."

"You've already lost, fool." Illidan remarked.

"We'll see." Marie murmured.

Staring at one another, the two drew their first five cards simultaneously, shouting out "DUEL!"

Picking up a sixth card, Illidan smartly said "I'll begin, since you challenged me to this duel. And to make things more interesting, I'll begin our little Shadow Game."

"No manners, I see." Marie dryly commented.

Frowning at his wife, the brown haired duelist raised his right hand, calling forth his Shadow Powers and causing a black fog to begin swirling around the field while a barrier entrapped both Illidan and Marie within it. Lowering his hand, Illidan glanced at his cards before selecting two from his left hand. Slapping one onto his Duel Disk and slipping the other into a Spell/Trap Slot, he calmly said "I set this monster and then add one face down card. That's all for me." (Illidan = 8000, Marie = 8000)

"_Strange, that's not like Illidan._" Marie murmured in her mind. "_He prefers to summon an attack mode monster, then allow his opponent to make a mistake._"

Glancing at her hand, she looked back over at the top card on her Duel Disk and whispered in her mind "_I have to take to the offense early and try to deal as much damage as I can. If I want to win, I have to fight him with all of my heart and soul, no matter what. I just can't give up._"

Drawing her sixth card, Marie smiled at it and lightly giggled. "Well Illidan, here's an oldie, but a goodie, Ritual Spell known as Shinato's Ark! To use this card, I first have to send a monster or monsters to my Graveyard with eight stars or more. So, I'll send this, my Majestic Mech – Goryu, who has eight stars exactly!"

Placing the monster card into her Graveyard Slot, Marie watched the card get sucked down into the slot. Picking another card from her hand, she slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "Since Goryu is in the Grave, that means I can now special summon this, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000)!"

Materializing onto the field in a flash was a massive wooden boat. On the front of it was two massive double doors, which suddenly began creaking open, revealing a bright light as they did. The blinding light soon died down as a large dark blue skinned angel with long white hair bound in a pony tail, with six massive golden wings appeared at the doors of the boat. The angel wore a long flowing white cape that fell behind itself, a white skirt that came down to it's knees, and blue and gold chest plate. Behind the angel's head was a seven pointed star that looked more like a crown. Fully onto the field, the angel looked at it's opponent with emotionless eyes while the boat behind it vanished.

"I'm far from done yet though Illidan, for I play the equip spell Premature Burial! With this, I can equip it to a monster in my Graveyard and resurrect it for a mere 800 life points. The monster I choose is the only one I have in my Graveyard, which is Majestic Mech – Goryu (2900/1800)!"

Immediately appearing onto the field was a white dragon like creature. It had many bands of white on it's body, with it's mid-section, which was close to it's head, having a pair of metal wings attached. A majority of it's body appeared to be golden sparkling energy, which was somehow retained in the white bands.

"Don't think I'm finished with you just yet, Illidan, for I have another card to play. You see, when I have two or more Light Attribute monsters on the field, I can special summon another monster of mine. So rise up now, Guardian of Order (2500/1200)!"

Without warning, a brilliant golden glow formed on the field, forcing the group to shield their eyes from the blinding rays of golden light. The light slowly faded, revealing a white armored warrior with golden energy pouring out from the joints of it's armor, with two large blade like shoulder pads sticking out in the air, another set on it's elbows, and a final set coming off of it's hips. The white armored creature was covered head to toe in armor, with it's head having a helmet with a v-shaped decoration.

"Wow, she managed to summon three monsters with 2500 or more attack points in one turn!" Jesse excitedly said.

Nodding, Syrus smiled and added "I bet in no time at all, she'll have Professor Illidan back to normal!"

Staring at the field, Zane remained quiet. Noting this, Syrus looked up at his brother and softly asked "Zane, what's wrong?"

"Something isn't right." the duelist in a black trench coat mumbled. "Illidan would never allow his opponent to get this far ahead of him in the duel."

Frowning, Syrus glanced back at the duel and then back at Zane. "Do you mean Professor Marie is walking right into a trap?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, Zane finally responded with "I'm not sure Sy, but something just isn't right. I hope I'm wrong, but we'll see."

Back on the field, Marie examined Illidan's cards, noting he only had one monster in defense and a face down. "_Hmm, those face downs could be anything, but it would be far more dangerous to allow him to keep the advantage. Maybe I'll force him to use up a spell or a trap, or at the least find out what he hid out there._"

Pointing at the gold and white energy dragon, Marie called out "Goryu, attack Illidan's face down monster with Golden Radiance!"

Raising it's head up, the white and gold dragon's jaws began filling with golden energy instantly. Just as it was about to lower it's head, Marie calmly said "Oh yeah, and before I forget, I should remind you of Goryu's special ability. Whenever it attacks a monster in defense, the difference in Goryu's attack points and your monster's defense points come straight out of your life points, or if you like slang better, it's Trample Damage! Now then, go on Goryu, toast that monster!"

Throwing it's head downwards, the white and gold dragon released a beam of golden energy at the face down card image. Just as the blast was about to hit, the image vanished and was replaced by the image of an orange and red tomato with sharp fangs protruding from it's mouth, a long tongue, crazy yellow corneas with red irises, and veins on the top of it's forehead. The blast hit it square on, making the tomato shriek out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels and allowing the remainder of the blast to slam into Illidan, who let out a heavy grunt from the blast.

With the blast subsiding, Illidan slightly smirked, saying "Not bad Marie, but you helped me out. The monster you just crushed was Mystic Tomato (1400/1100), who has a special ability of his own when he goes to the Graveyard. Once in there, I can special summon a new Dark Attribute monster to my field from my deck, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling his deck out, the wild haired duelist slowly sifted through it till he selected a card and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. Appearing onto the field instantly was another red and orange tomato with crazed eyes and fangs.

"I choose another Mystic Tomato (1400/1100), so let's see you get through him."

"Not a problem!" Marie declared. "Shinato, slice up that tomato with Divine Halo!"

Raising it's hands above it's head, the dark blue skinned angel released a light blue glow from it's hands, causing seven spheres to surround it's body. The seven spheres slowly began spinning in a circular motion, with each picking up a great amount of speed. After a few moments, the speed was nearly blinding, creating the image of a spinning saw disc. Throwing it's hands forward, the angel sent the glowing disc flying straight for the orange tomato, who stood it's ground. For it's trouble, the tomato was sliced clean through and through by the flying disc, leaving it to begin falling over before exploding into millions of pixels. Flying past the remains of the tomato, the disc continued onwards and slammed into Illidan, making him grunt out from the pain being inflicted.

Glaring at Marie, he icily said "Bravo Marie, but you've once again triggered my Mystic Tomato's effect, allowing me to special summon another Dark Attribute monster with 1500 or less attack points from my deck!"

Pulling his deck out once more, he quickly sifted through it till he found the card he desired. Slapping it onto his Duel Disk, the monster revealed was another red and orange tomato with sharp fangs and a slobbering tongue.

Replacing his deck, he calmly said "I choose yet another Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)."

"Those Mystic Tomatoes' are only delaying the inevitable, Illidan." Marie firmly remarked. "Guardian of Order, attack that tomato with Golden Energy Fist!"

Racing forward towards the red and orange tomato, the white armored warrior pulled back it's right hand and fisted it quickly. Golden energy immediately began focusing around it, making it glow with a brilliant light. The glow reflected within the tomato's eyes, which had them wide open at the oncoming attacker. Reaching it's destination, the warrior slammed it's power laden fist into the tomato, making it shriek out in a loud scream before exploding. The ensuing explosion forced Illidan to cover his face in order to keep the sand and dirt from entering his eyes.

With the explosion and debris settling, Illidan smirked and smugly said "Once again, you've triggered my monster's effect, so I get to summon another monster."

Grabbing his deck and filtering through it, he soon found the card he wanted and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. Forming on the field immediately was warrior in wearing a dull grey armored mantel with a helmet, a blue wrap around battle skirt, white pants, and dull grey metal boots that came up to his knees. In his right hand was a strange sword, with a long black blade with a silver trim on the edge of it, and on the other end of the hilt was a small blade sticking out as well. He wore gray gloves, with dull grey metal gauntlets, and a gray cape that came down to the middle of his back in length.

"I choose this, Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400). Are you done?"

Lightly grunting with irritation, Marie muttered "I'm done for this turn, but next turn will be a different story." (Illidan = 3200, Marie = 7200)

"Looks like Professor Marie is going to beat Professor Illidan in no time at all!" Jesse exclaimed with a smile.

Glancing over the dueling field, Zane remained silent. Noticing this, Syrus feverously glanced between his brother and the duel. "Zane, is she going to be alright?"

"I hope so Syrus." was the only words from the duelist wearing a black trench coat. "I really do hope so. She has the advantage, but something is amiss. Illidan never allows his opponent's such advantages. It's like he wanted her to take the lead."

"But what could that mean?" Syrus questioned.

Staring at the duel, Zane mumbled "I don't know…"

Hearing a dark chuckle, the three instantly returned their vision to the field, seeing it was Illidan laughing. Drawing his card, he examined it for a moment before a cruel smirk formed on his face. "I must thank you for last turn, Marie."

"Why is that?" Marie asked with confusion visible.

Smirking once more, Illidan replied "Because, you did exactly what I needed you to do for me. You see, I had hoped you would at the least take out one of my Mystic Tomato cards, but you did something I didn't think you could, which was take out all three. The fact of the matter is, I wanted all three in my Graveyard."

"Say what!?" Zane asked in confusion.

Eyeing Illidan, Marie frowned for a moment before mentally saying "_But that makes no sense! If he was going to summon a Chaos monster, he needs a Light Attribute monster in his Graveyard also, unless he summons one of his Chaos monsters using a spell or trap card. Still, he could have done that last turn, so why did he need me to take out his monsters?_"

"I can see the confusion and fear in your eyes, Marie." Illidan's voice spoke up, waking her from her thoughts. "And you're wrong if you think I am after one of my Chaos monsters. True, I do need Dark Attribute monsters for it, but I require Light Attribute ones also in my Graveyard. No, that is not my aim."

Selecting a card from his left hand, the wild haired duelist calmly placed it onto his Duel Disk, saying "The monster I wanted to summon could only be special summoned when I have three Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard. Since you were so accommodating at placing monsters in the Graveyard for me, I can now summon a card that would have taken a few turns to summon normally. So rise up now, Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!"

A black cloud instantly formed onto the field that obscured what the creature was that was being summoned. After a moment, a tail with four metallic looking joints that had sharp spikes on it rose from the cloud, along with two sharp clawed hands with gray skin. Large blade like wings sprouted out a second later. A few more seconds passed and the cloud dissipated to reveal the full extent of a large dark gray dragon with black metallic armor on it's body, with sharp blades sticking out from the back of it's neck. Staring down the monsters on it's opponent's side of the field, the dragon released a horrific roar, which seemingly shook the entire area.

Looking at the dark gray dragon, Syrus took a step backwards, with fear brimming in his eyes. "That thing, what is it!?"

"_Surely Illidan jests if he thinks that card will beat Marie's monsters alone._" Zane mentally mumbled. "_After all, two out of three of her monsters have 2900 or more attack points. He could take out Guardian of Order, but why bother?_"

Eyes widening a fraction, he added "_Unless that thing has a special ability!_"

"Do you like what you see, Marie?" Illidan smartly asked.

Staring at the dark gray dragon with fierce determination in her eyes, Marie replied "It's a nice card Illidan, but I have two nicer ones, so it looks like you're still outgunned."

"Haven't you heard that it's not the size of your gun but how you use it?" Illidan questioned with a cruel smirk. "You see, my dragon has a very unique ability. For every Dark Attribute monster I remove from play in my Graveyard, I can destroy a card on the field. Here is a demonstration. I remove from play one of my Mystic Tomatoes, allowing me destroy that dark blue skinned freak!"

Whipping it's tail around, the dragon swiped it through the air, sending a series of needles from the end of it flying up into the air. The spikes arced and soon came raining down onto the blue skinned angel. The angel tried to fight off the spikes, but in the end, they pierced completely through it's body, shattering it into millions of pixels.

"Oh no…" Zane mumbled.

Laughing at the destruction of the angel, Illidan pointed a condemning finger at Marie, saying "That was just a small display of my dragon's power. Now for the main event! I remove both of my remaining Mystic Tomatoes from my Graveyard in order to crush those two other creatures! Go Dark Armed Dragon, teach her what fear truly is!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dark gray dragon swung it's tail into the air once more, sending another stream of spikes into the sky. Quickly, the spikes began raining down upon the white and golden energy dragon, along with the white and gold warrior. With ease, the spikes tore through each, making both howl in pain before shattering and vanishing from the field.

With nothing before her any longer, Marie looked at the two creatures on Illidan's field with slightly widened eyes. Seeing the look she was giving him, Illidan called out "Dark Armed Dragon and Chthonian Soldier, direct attack with Needle Tail Swipe and Chthonian Slash!"

Roaring loudly at the command from it's master, the dark gray dragon charged forward towards Marie. Coming to a stop with four feet between itself and it's target, the dragon pivoted on it's left foot and began spinning itself. The large spiked tail immediately slammed into Marie, knocking her into the air while she screamed out in pain. While in the air, the dull gray armored warrior took after her and slashed her across the chest with his sword, making her cry out once more.

She soon fell to the ground with a dull thud. Laying on the ground on her stomach, she moaned loudly and rolled over onto her back. Examining her chest, she found several blood marks where the dragon's tail had hit her and a single slash mark where the warrior had struck her. Wincing when she touched them, she attempted to sit up, only to find her body was refusing to move.

"Marie, you have to get up!" Zane yelled out with concern visibly in his voice.

"I'd advise you to stay down, Marie." Illidan remarked, making the black trench coat duelist cast a glare at him. Seeing it, the wild haired duelist cruelly smirked back at him and icily asked "Zane, does it offend you that I do this?"

Growling lowly while clenching his fists tightly, Zane screamed back "Let her out of this duel and take me on in her place! You know as well as I do that she can't go on like this!"

"No."

Enraged at the answer he received, Zane yelled back "Illidan, you know she's hurt, so why not let me take her place?!"

"Because she issued this challenge." Illidan flatly remarked. Turning towards his fallen wife, he stared at her with cold and cruel eyes. Finally, he slowly said "I will however do something that I don't think is necessary, but I feel I should do."

Pausing for a moment, he calmly said "Listen well Marie, because this is the only time I will say this. Agree now Marie to call this duel a draw, and I will give you something you desire to have back very soon: Arya."


	44. Chapter 43: Returning the Favor, Pt 2

**Hey gang! So, I had a good Thanksgiving last week. Well, I should say, good four Thanksgivings, lol. I had one a week ago Monday, then one Thursday, another Friday, and finally one Sunday. Luckily, no turkey on Friday, but still, I'm all Thanksgiving'ed out for the year, hehe. Other than that, life is about normal like always.**

**Writing wise, I'm working on getting this story, along with my other, **_**Another**_**, completed. It's difficult, but I'm trying. Since I finished up my project from last month, plus another project today, I'm clearing out some time to write. Hopefully I'll get this story and my other updating much faster, but no promises on it. Still, I'm working at it.**

**Ok, here is something you guys need to think about. Keep your hearts, minds, and prayers (if you do) on ardee. I talked with him last Thursday night and found out he was near where the attacks were in India. I ask that all of you keep that in mind. I had had no idea the attacks were going on due that I don't pay much attention to the news, but regardless, it worried me to hear it was close to him. Like I said, I just ask you all to keep that in mind.**

**Alrighty, moving along, time for reviews!**

**Genma no Ou: Welcome to the reviews. Nice to hear you've been reading my stories for quite a while. I thank you for sticking it out with it. Glad you think this is a bit better than the dub. Heh, I try. Again, glad you like this story. True, Illidan is kind of a bit more preferable this way. I mentioned it to my mate the other night that I really kind of like writing him this way in some ways. It's new to me. I've never really written for a villain before, so doing it for this story has been fun and insightful. True, a hero who doesn't bend is kind of a flimsy idea. He did nearly break in **_**The Wolves Seal**_**, but kept it together thanks to a visit from Marie's soul. Still, now he is far out of her help it seems. Heh, true, some of the characters are very narrow minded it seems. They haven't gotten the bigger picture yet. Heh, thanks about the vision. Thanks for your compliments. I really appreciate them. And thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: LOL! Wow, I've heard Illidan called numerous things, but never douche. I usually only call Donald Duck and Goofy on Kingdom Hearts that, lol. Really, I mean they're useless ¾ the time. Anyways, it's not offensive. True, Illidan is a bit reckless with his life points, but he seems to have a plan. What it is, it's not clear yet. Well, he doesn't have Spirit Barrier or Soul Absorption within his deck. I usually keep those cards out of his deck. I have decks actually somewhat built for his character (both good and bad), and neither have those cards in their decks. True, Marie should have had Nobleman of Crossout, but no such luck. She doesn't use that card either, lol. Glad you didn't find any real mistakes. Thanks for your review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Yep, a nice cliffy, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. Also, I do believe I received a new person for favs, so I thank you. Unfortunately, your name escapes me at the moment. Sorry about that. I suck at remembering, plus I usually delete the new favs out of my email. Again, thank you to all of you for your reviews!**

**At that, I'm done for today. I hope you all enjoy. I'll try to have another chapter in a week or two. Just stay patient with me, please. Thanks and enjoy!**

**Status from previous chapter:**

**Life Points:**

**Illidan = 3200**

**Marie = 3200**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Chthonian Soldier (1200/1400), Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)**

**Marie: None**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: None**

**Marie: None**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan: 4**

**Marie: 1**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Illidan = 2**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of face up spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 0**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Graveyard: 0**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 3**

**Chapter 43**

Hearing her daughter's name, Marie found the strength within herself to sit up, but immediately winced from the pain flowing through her chest. Weakly, she asked "Where is she?"

"Not with me, at the moment." Illidan calmly replied. "But soon, I shall reclaim our daughter from the monster that took her from us. That is if I have no more interruptions."

Casting a glare at the group with his crimson eyes, Illidan smirked when he watched Syrus and Jesse took an involuntary step backwards while Zane held his ground. Returning his vision to his wife, he continued on, saying "This is the deal I will make with you, Marie, for the sake of our daughter."

"We will end this duel in a draw, here and now. Once we do, I shall leave, while you and the others will remain here. None of you will seek me out, nor challenge me. I will then continue my hunt for Lucifer, the one who has our daughter. Upon finding him, I will crush him in a duel and take our daughter back."

Pausing for a moment, he stared his wife in the face before saying "I will then seek you out. When I find you, I will return our daughter to you and open a portal for your group to return home. You will not seek me out, ever again, for I will remain in this world, forever."

"If you accept these terms, then we shall part ways. However, should you choose to foolishly continue this duel, I will crush you without the slightest amount of remorse. I don't care what happens to you any longer, so don't think that buried deep within me is love for you. It is gone, Marie. The choice is yours to make alone. I shall give you five minutes, and if you haven't chosen by then, I shall continue the duel. Now decide!"

Cringing at the words of her husband, Marie weakly attempted to stand, only to find her body was resisting. Pain ran up and down her chest from where the previous attack had hit it's mark, making it extremely difficult for her to move at all.

Finally moving to her hands and knees, she felt hot tears starting to slide down her cheeks and to the ground. "_What do I do? I can't give up on him. He's one half of my world that completes me and keeps me pressing on. If I give up on Illidan, I'll never be able to move on with life._"

"_But there is Arya to think about also. If I choose not to accept his offer, and I should happen to lose, she'll not only have lost her father, but her mother as well. I grew up without both parents in my previous life, so I know the anguish and sadness that comes with being an orphan. I don't want my daughter to live like that._"

Taking a ragged breath, she closed her eyes slightly and mentally mumbled "_I know what I have to do. I have to let him go. It hurts so much to even think of making his choice. Illidan, he's been a part of my life since five millennia ago. To think that it came down to this to split the pair of us up. I never dreamed our lives together would come to an end. I know with all my heart, I will never find another that makes me feel the way I do when I'm with you. Illidan… it, it hurts so much to know I'm losing you._"

Letting out a light whimper, Marie slowly began to stand up. The pain in her chest was now dull compared to the pain in her heart. Finally standing back up, she lowered her face till her bangs hid her eyes. Fresh tears spilt out of them while the thoughts of what she was about to do continued to run through her mind.

Before she could say anything, she heard a ragged voice yell "Don't do it…"

Snapping her head up immediately, Marie turned around towards the group of three to find the fourth member of the group, the one that had been unconscious when she had arrived, was the one who had spoken. His breathing was labored, but his eyes shone with determination.

"Don't do it, Marie." Jaden rasped out while attempting to get up. "You can't let him remain in the darkness. He doesn't belong there at all. In your heart, and mine, we both know he belongs with you and Arya, not alone in the darkness."

"Jaden, lay still, you're still weak from your last duel." Jesse softly commanded.

Shaking his head, the brown haired duelist struggled to his feet. Standing fully, he felt his legs shaking, but he edged his way towards Marie. "You can't give up this fight, no matter what, Marie. If you do, he'll be lost to the darkness forever, and Arya will lose not only her father, but her mother too. I know you, you'll never be the same without him. I've seen it when one of you was separated from the other. Neither of you are the same without one another."

Grimacing from the pain flowing through his body, he forced it away from his mind and added "And remember this: he once saved you from the darkness. Illidan told me about how you were taken in by the darkness that one time, and how he fought so hard to release you from it. I know he'd do the same for you if he was still here as he was, and I know that you would do whatever it would take to save him, no matter what. So please, don't give up on him. A part of him is still in there, I'm sure of it."

"_A part of Illidan remains within this cold stranger?_" Marie pondered. Turning back to face the crimson eyes of her husband, she peered into them, finding nothing but anger and malice within them. Searching them, she continued to stare, till finally she lightly gasped.

Seeing this, Illidan growled out and yelled "Are you ready to surrender yet!? Jaden's words are worthless, so forget about saving me! I made my choice, so don't think you can save me like I once did you. Unlike you, I gave into the darkness willingly, while you were forced into it. It's not the same."

"_I know what I just saw, and he's wrong. In the darkness, a part of his heart remains, the part that cares for both Arya and I. I'm sure of it. How could I have missed it before!? Now I know, what I must do._"

Staring at Illidan with determination, Marie dried her tears and said "I won't surrender this duel Illidan. I will fight you, and I will win to save you from yourself. I know you made the decision to join the darkness willingly, but you made that choice most likely as a last resort. For that, I understand, but I will not allow you to remain in the darkness. Our daughter needs both of us, so for her, and for myself, I will free you. This duel is still on!"

"Well said, Marie." Jaden remarked with a weary look.

Glancing over her right shoulder, Marie smiled and said "Don't worry Jaden, I'll save Illidan. Just rest up, for now, ok?"

"Yeah…" he mumbled while collapsing onto the ground on his stomach.

Jesse and Syrus immediately ran to their friend and carried him a ways back from the duel to where they had originally had him. Shaking his head, Jesse muttered "Idiot, I warned you to rest up."

Lightly smiling at the concern of Jesse, Marie returned her vision to Illidan, who was scowling at her. "It's still your move Illidan, so go on."

"Very well, I see you have made your choice. Then I have no choice either." Illidan informed. "I will grind you into dust. Once I finish off Lucifer, I will find someone to take care of Arya."

"In the meantime, I must eliminate you. I place a face down to end my turn." (Illidan = 3200, Marie = 3200)

Looking at her deck, Marie moved her fingers to the top card and fingered it. Glancing back at Illidan, she mentally mumbled "_No matter what, I can't give up. I will save you Illidan, no matter the cost._"

Drawing her card, she looked at it and smirked. "I remove from play Majestic Mech – Goryu and Guardian of Order in order to special summon this monster. Rise up now Soul of Purity and Light (2000/1800)!"

An angel like female monster with blonde hair and blue eyes then appeared on the field in a flash of light. She appeared translucent, but was somewhat solid as well. She had powerful looking white wings attached to her back and slightly spread them as she touched down onto the field.

"Now Soul of Purity and Light, take out his Chthonian Soldier with Shining Wing Blast!"

Spreading it's wings, the female angel pushed her hands out as a sphere of glowing white energy began forming before her body. Focusing on her target, the angel flung the sphere of energy straight at the weaker gray armored warrior. The warrior let out a roar and swung his sword at the attack in attempt to slice through the sphere, only to have his sword be flung into the air while the blast struck the soldier. With ease, the blast tore through the warrior, who screamed out before shattering. The blast continued onwards and struck Illidan hard, who grunted out in pain. At the exact same moment, the sword that the warrior had been holding flew downwards and struck Marie's right shoulder, who let out a loud hiss from the slash.

Gripping her wound, she asked "What happened? Why did I get hit?"

"It's rather simple, Marie." Illidan remarked. "When Chthonian Soldier is destroyed, the Battle Damage I take is shared with my opponent."

Lightly growling in frustration, Marie slid her remaining card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "Fine then, I set this and end my turn." (Illidan = 2400, Marie = 2400)

Picking up a new card, Illidan sneered and said "I'll begin by activating my Dark Armed Dragon's special ability. By removing from play Chthonian Soldier, I can destroy your pathetic fairy. Crush it now Dark Armed Dragon!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dark gray dragon swung it's mighty tail around, sending several large spikes flying at the weaker fairy. The spikes easily slid through the fairy, who cried out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

"Since I just removed from play my fourth card, I activate this spell, Chaos Greed! When I have four or more cards removed from play, and nothing in my Graveyard, I can draw two more cards."

Snapping off two new cards, Illidan sneered once more and slapped a new card to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon this, Dark Crusader (1600/200)."

Immediately appearing onto the field was a black smog. From the smog, a figure in black leather armor with a red tattered cape, spikes jutting out from his knees and upper arms, a large halberd black sword with silver blades, and a skull like head with red hair on top of it. The creature let out a small demonic laugh while glaring at it's opponents with red eyes.

"This monster has a very unique ability. You see, during my turn, I'm allowed to discard a Dark Attribute monster to my Graveyard from my hand. For each I discard, Dark Crusader gains 400 more attack points."

Selecting a card in his left hand, he turned it towards Marie, saying "I send Apprentice Magician to the Grave, meaning Dark Crusader gets stronger (1600 + 400 = 2000/200)."

Glowing with a dark red aura, the demonic warrior let out a dark chuckle while his strength increased.

"Time to show you what your arrogance and foolishness has earned you. Go Dark Crusader, make Marie suffer with Darkness Blade!"

Racing across the field with his halberd on his shoulder still, the demonic warrior sneered and raised his blade off of his shoulder and began spinning it around over his head.

Before the warrior could reach her, Marie pointed at her face down, saying "Not happening Illidan! I reveal the trap Miraculous Descent, which allows me to special summon a Fairy Type monster from my removed from play pile back to the field and equip this card to it. The monster I select is Majestic Mech – Goryu (2900/1800)!"

Reappearing onto the field in a flash of white light was the golden energy dragon with white bands containing it.

Lightly growling upon seeing the new monster, Illidan grunted out "I see, then I have no choice but to crush that card once more. I remove from play Apprentice Magician, allowing me to activate Dark Armed Dragon's effect. Now I choose to destroy that dragon, so go Dark Armed Dragon, eliminate it once more!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the dark gray skinned dragon swung it's tail towards the revived white and gold dragon, sending a series of spikes flying towards it. The numerous spikes easily sliced through the body of the white and golden dragon, which howled in pain from the strike before exploding.

"I think that's enough pain for now, Marie. I set one card and end my turn." (Illidan = 2400, Marie = 2400)

Preparing to draw, Marie suddenly heard Illidan darkly chuckling. Staring at her with his crimson eyes, he smartly said "Marie, it's foolish to think you can win. After all, top decking against me with the powerful arsenal of monsters under my command, you cannot hope to overcome me. Eventually, you'll run out of cards that can block me, at which time you'll lose this duel."

"I wouldn't count on it, Illidan." Marie remarked with determination in her voice. "I will overcome all the obstacles in my path, so don't worry about me. You should be more concerned with what I can do."

"As if you are a threat to me." he coolly remarked.

Ignoring her husband, Marie drew her new card. Placing it wordlessly into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, she simply said "I set this and end my turn." (Illidan = 2400, Marie = 2400)

Grabbing a new card, Illidan examined it momentarily before slapping it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I summon this, my D.D. Survivor (1800/200)."

Materializing onto the field slowly was a figure wrapped in a tan ragged cloth that covered his entire body, but revealed slight bits of his body. The warrior had blonde hair and seemed to wear silver armor with a sword poking out from the cloth.

"And now, the end comes, Marie. D.D. Survivor, direct attack with Dimensional Blade Slash!"

Racing forward with his cloak flowing around his body, the warrior reached into his cloak and drew out a broad sword. Leaping into the air, the warrior began his descent towards Marie with his blade aimed for her chest.

Smirking a bit, Marie called out "No way am I giving up now Illidan! I reveal my face down spell, Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! Thanks to this spell, I can special summon from my deck an old friend to the field in defense."

Pulling her deck out, Marie searched through it before finally finding the card she wanted and slapped it onto her Duel Disk horizontally. Materializing instantly before her was a small brown fur ball creature with short stubby green arms and feet, with pink claws, purple eyes, and small white wings on it's back.

"How annoying." Illidan remarked. "Crush that thing D.D. Survivor!"

The blade of the warrior easily cleaved through the small brown creature, which let out a small wail before exploding.

Still smirking, Marie smartly replied "Maybe so, but Winged Kuriboh (300/200) just saved me. Plus, since you just sent it to the Graveyard, I take zero damage for the rest of the turn."

"I know." Illidan grunted out. "I end my move. Your cheap tactics won't save you for much longer Marie. Mark my words Marie, you will fall before my superior strength." (Illidan = 2400, Marie = 2400)

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Marie glanced at her deck before back up at Illidan. "_He's right about one thing. I can't keep avoiding his attacks like I am. Eventually, he'll break my defenses, then I'll be wide open. Right now, he has three powerful monsters out that can give me a lot of trouble. I have to draw the right card here if I want to stand a chance._"

"_Hold strong Marie. We are all with you._" the voice of her Duel Spirit whispered in her mind.

Smiling and nodding mentally, Marie drew her new card and turned it towards Illidan. "I think it's time I turned things up a notch, so to begin with, I'll activate this spell: Card of Demise! With it, I can draw till I hold five cards in my hand, but in five turns I must discard my entire hand."

Picking up five new cards, the brown haired duelist smiled and said "I'll start off by tossing out this monster, my Zeradias, Herald of Heaven. By doing so, I'm allowed to transfer the field spell known as The Sanctuary in the Sky to my hand from my deck."

Placing the monster card into her Graveyard Slot, Marie watched while the card was sucked down. Once gone, she pulled her deck out and began searching through it. At last finding the card she wanted, she turned it towards Illidan to prove she had it before returning her deck to it's slot.

"Next, it shouldn't be a big surprise that I activate my field spell, The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Holding her Duel Disk out vertically, she tapped the end of it, causing a slot to suddenly shoot out. Slapping the spell into the slot, she watched it shut while her whole Duel Disk glowed to life with rainbow colored energy. Instantly, the battlefield the pair stood on transformed into a bright blue sky with white fluffy clouds. Behind Marie, a large stone building began rising with a bright white light shining off of it.

"Thanks to The Sanctuary in the Sky card, whenever a Fairy Type monster of mine is in battle and loses, I take zero Battle Damage. And for my next card, I choose to summon this, Warrior of Zera (1600/1600)."

Materializing onto the field within a moment was a man with green gloves, a green helmet with dog like ears sticking up from it, a green piece that covered part of his chest and shoulders, a pair of blue pants, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, and dark brown skin with well toned muscles. In his right hand was a blue sword and his left held some kind of chain that hooked to the sword.

Frowning, Jesse mumbled "Why in the world did she do that?"

"What do you mean, Jesse?" Syrus asked.

"Well, she just summoned a Warrior Type monster to the field, but before that she played a field spell that affected Fairy Types. Why bother playing a monster of a different type?" Jesse explained.

Understanding his friend's comment better, Syrus looked at the warrior monster and mumbled "I don't know. It's unlike Marie to play inconsistent."

"You two will see soon enough." Zane spoke up, surprising the pair.

Before they could argue, they heard Marie say "Since I have both Warrior of Zera and The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, I can sacrifice Warrior of Zera in order to special summon Archlord Zerato (2800/2300)!"

Instantly, a blinding light began spilling out of the stone building behind Marie, forcing the group to shield their eyes. After a moment, the light died down, revealing that the green armored warrior no longer resided on the field. In his place was a new creature with large white wings, that formed around his upper chest and a red scarf covered his neck, a white helmet with red horns, a blue skirt like appeared around the waist, a powerful curved blade in his right hand, and purple skin that lightly gleamed.

"Oh, I get it! She summoned that weaker monster to special summon this stronger one!" Jesse exclaimed with excitement in his voice.

Looking at the new monster, Jaden smiled lightly, mumbling "That's the way Marie."

Staring Illidan down, Marie smirked slightly and took a card from her left hand. "I activate Zerato's effect, so by discarding one Light Attribute monster to my Graveyard from my hand, I can destroy all monsters on your field. So I'll send this monster, meaning you're about to lose your monsters!"

Letting out a small grunt, the purple skinned warrior drew back it's saber. Swinging the sword in a single sweep, a wave of energy went flying across the field towards the three monsters before Illidan.

Sneering at the incoming wave, Illidan pulled his right arm in and said "Not bad Marie, but I have a few face down cards to make the most of my monsters! I reveal first the trap Dark Spirit Art – Greed, but chain it with the spell Mystik Wok!"

"Mystik Wok kicks in first, allowing me to sacrifice my Dark Armed Dragon. By doing so, I gain life points equal to it's attack points."

With a low growl, the large dark gray dragon vanished in a flash, leaving a trail of sparkles behind it.

"Next, Dark Spirit Art – Greed allows me to sacrifice a Dark Attribute monster and then draw two new cards. Of course, you can stop me should you discard a spell card."

Glancing at her lone card in her left hand, Marie lightly growled and muttered "I have none to discard."

"Oh well, too bad for you." Illidan smartly replied. "That means I can now sacrifice Dark Crusader and pick up two new cards."

Vanishing in a flash of black energy, the demonic warrior let out one last laugh before completely disappearing. With him gone, Illidan quietly drew two new cards.

"As for D.D. Survivor, he goes thanks to your monster's effect."

With his words said, the wave of energy arrived and slashed through the lone cloaked warrior, who released a yelp before shattering.

Clenching her right hand, Marie began to growl but pushed her irritation aside. Slightly smiling, she smartly said "Not bad Illidan, but the monster I discarded has a trick also. You see, the monster I tossed out for Zerato's effect was Radiant Jeral (1000/2000), which grants me 1000 life points whenever The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field and it's sent to the Graveyard."

Watching his wife's life points increase, Illidan shrugged, saying "No matter, you'll lose them soon enough."

"We'll see about that." Marie commented. "In the meantime, Zerato, relieve him of those extra life points he just gained with a direct attack!"

Releasing a mighty battle cry, the purple skin warrior drew back it's wings, which began to glow with a light green aura. Flinging one wing at a time towards Illidan, the warrior released a series of diamond covered shards at the wild haired duelist.

Sneering at the oncoming attack, Illidan pointed at his remaining face down card, causing it to rise up. "Did you honestly think I would leave myself wide open to you, my dearest Marie? I think not, and I'll use this trap card, one that is a personal favorite of yours from what I remember. Go Draining Shield!"

"No!" Marie grit out.

Forming before the wild haired duelist instantly was a golden energy shield. The shield held fast as the diamond spikes slammed into it. Gradually, the spikes disintegrated into nothingness while the shield vanished and sent a stream of golden energy into Illidan's Duel Disk, causing his life point meter to increase.

"I'm sure you're well aware of my trap's effect, but in case you forgot after all this time, your attack was negated and your monster's attack points were added to my life points. Not bad, eh?" Illidan smugly commented.

Clenching her right fist tightly, Marie cast a glare at her husband. Taking the last card she held and placing it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, she grit out "I end with a face down." (Illidan = 8000, Marie = 3400)

Drawing a new card, Illidan smirked at it and calmly said "It looks like my cards have favored me yet again. I begin by activating the equip spell D.D.R – Different Dimension Reincarnation, which forces me to discard one card from my hand to begin with. I toss out this useless card."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, he smartly continued on, saying "Thanks to my equip spell, I can take a monster that has been removed from play and return it to the field. So return Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly was a familiar red and orange tomato creature with sharp fangs and crazed eyes.

"With that, I sacrifice that worthless creature to summon a new one, one that has the power to crush your monster. Rise up now my might Darklord Zerato (2800/2300)!"

"Say what!?" Marie asked in complete confusion.

Glowing with a dark aura, the red and orange tomato vanished in a flash. Replacing it was a gray skinned muscular warrior wearing a red loin cloth and guards on his calves and arms up to his elbows. On the creature's back were a pair of red skinned wings that formed a collar around his neck, and on his head was a red helmet with black horns coming out the sides of it. In his left hand was a powerful sword with jagged edges on the backside of the blade.

Eyeing the new monster, Marie couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise. "So it's true, a dark version of Archlord Zerato… But wait, that is a level eight monster, so it should take two sacrifices."

"Normally you'd be right Marie, but so wrong in this case." Illidan remarked with a sneer on his face. "Whenever I have four or more Dark Attribute monsters in my Graveyard with different names, I can sacrifice a single Dark Attribute monster to summon Zerato. Speaking of Zerato, time I played his special ability. By discarding one Dark Attribute monster from my hand, I can destroy all monsters on your field."

Selecting a card from his left hand, he showed it to Marie, saying "I send this useless Apprentice Magician to the Graveyard, allowing Zerato to crush your own Zerato. Go Darklord Zerato, show him how powerful you are!"

Releasing a loud yell, the gray skinned warrior spread both red wings so they were facing the lighter version of itself. Both wings glowed with a dark red aura for a moment before suddenly thousands of needles came flying out of it's wings. The needles shot straight through the purple skinned warrior, who let out a loud cry before shattering into millions of pieces.

"And now, for your life points. Direct attack Zerato!"

Flying forward, the gray skinned warrior prepared to slash Marie, only to slam his sword into a golden shield instead.

"NO! HOW DARE YOU!"

Giggling lightly, Marie wagged a finger at Illidan, smartly saying "Sorry, but I dare to defy you, Illidan. Your attack triggered a familiar trap, which is the one you used against me last turn. Thanks to Draining Shield, I negated your monster's attack and added it's attack points to my life points."

Watching the golden energy of the shield slowly fade and flow into Marie's life point counter, Illidan snarled out "You will pay for your defiance. I set one card and move to end my turn."

Upon hearing it's master's words end, the gray skinned warrior released a loud howl and dropped his sword to the ground and raised his hands to place them around the sides of his head. He continued to scream till suddenly the warrior exploded.

"What happened?" Marie asked with a confused look on her face.

In a dark voice, Illidan grunted out "On the turn when I activate Darklord Zerato's special ability, he is sent to the Graveyard during the end of my turn. At that, I end." (Illidan = 8000, Marie = 6200)

Picking up a new card, Marie examined it for a moment while rolling around her options in her mind. "_This card is too weak to attack with. Besides, it's special ability means I should use it properly. At any rate, who knows what he set face down. I can't take any unnecessary chances._"

"I set this monster in defense. That does it for me." (Illidan = 8000, Marie = 6200)

Snapping off a new card, Illidan examined it for a moment before slapping it onto his Duel Disk. "I summon Thunder Nyan Nyan (1900/800)."

Instantly appearing onto the field was a red headed female creature wearing a tiger print leotard and gloves with a set of three bongo drums before her with three red swirling symbols on each one. In each of her gloved hands was a drumstick.

"Thunder Nyan Nyan, beat it into Marie's monster that I will win!"

Leaping out from behind her drums, the red female creature moved across the field and slammed her drumsticks into the face down card image. The image shattered immediately, revealing a pink pair shaped creature with an upside down face, two eyes, rosy cheeks, and a small smile. With it's card image gone, the creature took the drumsticks head on and seemingly allowed them to sink into it's body. Immediately, the drumsticks were pushed back off of the creature, who only smiled. Without warning, the creature raced forward towards Illidan and opened it's mouth, revealing that it had many sharp teeth. The creature instantly clamped it's teeth into Illidan's leg, who screamed out in pain and began shaking it. Eventually, the creature was flung off of his leg, but the creature's teeth had visibly cut down to his leg, revealing several blood blotches.

Seeing his eyes were seething with anger, Marie gently smiled and said "When you attacked, you flipped up my Marshmallon (300/500). If he gets flipped up, you take 1000 direct damage. Plus, he can't be destroyed in battle."

"Fine… I end." (Illidan = 7000, Marie = 6200)


	45. Chapter 44: Returning the Favor, Pt 3

**Hey everyone! Well, the past week or so has been pretty quiet. I finished up all my projects, so once again, I got plenty of time to begin writing once more. I did a good bit of Christmas shopping also, which was fun as always. Other than that, life is about normal like always. Next week, I look forward to my trip to Pigeon Forge, TN, where I'll be resting up from Sunday to Wednesday. Then when I get home, on Thursday, I head up to Dayton, OH, for work, hehe. Should be fun. Ah yes, and my mate's birthday is next Wednesday, so fun fun.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along. So far, I've managed to write a chapter a week, but that may or may not keep next week. We'll have to see.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, Illidan falling in with the bad crowd. True, for him to make Marie choose between her own safety and Arya's, it is rather despicable. And to throw everything away that the two had between them in their lives, past and present, is kind of sad. LOL! I don't know if he'd allow her to remind him who wears the pants, hehe. I'm glad you like this duel thus far. I thought on it hard and have worked it out with numerous possible angles, and thus far, I do think it has panned out. Yes, I am enjoying writing Illidan up as a villain for once, though I know he's not meant to be one. Very true, his deck is very powerful, and there are some good Light cards that made it in, but not too many. His deck is more focused on darkness rather than light. I've never head of the Legendary Roaring God Cards actually. They seem interesting. True, Marie is fighting rather well, though she seems to keep having to top deck a lot, but the duel could go either way in all honestly. Just have to think about the future I suppose. Thanks for your wonderful review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Heh, yeah, Marie is easily angering the cool and calm demeanor of Illidan, hehe. True, Illidan should have taken out Marie's face down card, but he figured it was nothing, so he did nothing. Yes, you're correct about the 4****th**** monster being buried via D.D.R – Different Dimension Reincarnation. True, Illidan's selection of Light monsters is interesting, and there is a reason to using Thunder Nyan Nyan. In the past, I did use it, and it has a place in a Chaos deck truthfully. Say you need a Light monster in the Grave since you have a Chaos monster in your hand, but no way to place it there. If you have an extra off attribute monster, you can summon Thunder Nyan Nyan and then bam, it goes to the Grave, hence giving you the card you need. It isn't the best card to use, but it is helpful, hence why I placed it within Illidan's deck. True, one has to wonder what Yubel and Lucifer are up to. Nothing good, I'm sure. Thanks for the review!**

**Genma no Ou: Thanks. Yes, Zerato vs. Zerato was interesting. Lol, yeah, Jaden's words made sense and encouraged Marie to keep fighting. After all, what he said was true, that Illidan saved her once from the darkness, so it's her turn to save Illidan. Lol, yes, I realize Thunder Nyan Nyan is an odd choice of monster, but again, this deck he's using isn't a Dark deck, but a darker version of a Chaos deck. Still, it is an odd ball within it. Like I mentioned to SCA above, it can be useful when needing a Light monster in the Grave quickly while you have another off attribute monster out. Yubel will one day return, hopefully, lol. After all, I can't finish this without her, most likely, hehe. Nor could I forget Lucifer for sure. But again, I wouldn't worry about her. (/Impersonates Arnold in Terminator 3.\) She'll be back. Thanks for the review!**

**Alrighty, that's it for the reviews this time around. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I am very thankful for them. Also, thanks to those who added my story to their alerts and favs, plus adding me as a fav author. I truly appreciate it. Again, thank you, all of you.**

**At any rate, I need to run. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Later!**

**Stats from the previous chapter:**

**Life Points:**

**Illidan = 7000**

**Marie = 6200**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Thunder Nyan Nyan (1900/800)**

**Marie: Marshmallon (300/500) (d)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: None**

**Marie: The Sanctuary in the Sky (fs)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan: 1**

**Marie: 0**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Marie = 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of face up spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 0**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Graveyard: 7**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 5**

**Number of turns since Marie played Card of Demise: 1**

**Chapter 44**

Picking up her new card, Marie eyed it for a moment before placing it horizontally onto her Duel Disk. "I set this monster and end." (Illidan = 7000, Marie = 6200)

"How long do you think you can keep up this up, Marie?" Illidan smugly asked while picking up a new card. "I would guess not too much longer since you're top decking. And then there is the fact in a few more turns, you'll have to discard your entire hand due to Card of Demise. It's only a matter of time, Marie."

Remaining calm, Marie firmly replied "I'm not worried."

Sneering at this, Illidan fiercely called out "You should be! I sacrifice Thunder Nyan Nyan to summon Vampire's Curse (2000/800)!"

In a flash of light, the female red headed drummer vanished from the field, only to be replaced by a short blue haired man with violet colored skin, with a single red skin covered wing sticking out of the right side of his back. He wore a blue long sleeved shirt that clung to his arms tightly, a mantel on his shoulders with a shoulder pad on each side that had a curved horn sticking out of each pad. He wore black pants and had a partial cape draped off of his left shoulder.

"Vampire's Curse, show Marie what it means to go up against me! Crush her pathetic face down monster with Cursed Fist!"

Releasing an evil chuckle, the blue haired man took flight and glided over towards the face down card image. Striking forward with his right fist, the man smashed through the brown back card image, causing a mostly invisible creature wearing a red with gold trim crown, a set of white feathery wings, a rope belt, a pair of white gloves, a golden bow, and a set of sandaled feet to shatter.

Smirking, Marie smartly said "Thanks Illidan for flipping up my Skelengel (900/400). When he's flipped up, I get to draw one new card."

Watching his wife draw a card, Illidan grunted out "I end." (Illidan = 7000, Marie = 6200)

"Check this out!" Marie confidently declared while drawing a card. Examining it, she slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "I summon Nova Summoner (1400/800) in defense."

Appearing in a rainbow aura was a strange ring like orange and striped monster with bug like wings and a small green core. The creature lightly glowed with it's rainbow aura while crossing it's wings before it's body into a defensive position while a horizontal card image formed underneath of it's body.

"I end with a face down." (Illidan = 7000, Marie = 6200)

"Good because it's my move!" Illidan ground out. Drawing a new card, he examined it momentarily before slapping it onto his Duel Disk. "Rise up and show yourself Dark Valkyria (1800/1050)!"

Materializing instantly onto the field with a dark aura surrounding her was a female warrior with light purple skin with two dark gray metallic wings jutting out from her back. She wore a helmet that covered her head with fins sticking off to each side of it, a mantel that connected to a gray chest plate with two pointed shoulder pads, a black dress that spread to her mid-thigh, with a battle skirt hanging off her hips that had a protective metal plate between her legs. She wore metallic gloves that came up to her elbows and similar boots that reached her knees. Staring at the monsters across the field, she smirked while evil reflected in her red eyes.

"And now, I reveal my trap, Ultimate Offering. Thanks to this trap, I can have an extra Normal Summon by paying 500 life points. With that, I give up 500 life points in order to activate Dark Valkyria's special ability. You see, she is a Gemini Type monster, which requires her to be Normal Summoned once more while on the field to activate her own special ability. Thanks to her effect, she gains a Spell Counter, which increases her attack points by 300 (1800 + 300 = 2100/1050)."

Smirking, the female monster's body glowed with a dark aura.

Seeing this, Illidan pointed at his female monster, saying "Now I remove her Spell Counter, allowing me to destroy one monster on the field. It looks like Marshmallon's end is here. Say farewell to that annoying creature!"

Sneering, the female creature pulled her hands in close to her chest, causing a sphere of black energy to begin forming. The dark aura surrounding her began centering upon the sphere she was creating till no aura surrounded her. Without any hesitation, she flung the blast at the weaker pink creature. The blast slammed into the creature, making it shriek from the pain before shattering into millions of pixels.

"With him gone, you're left with one card. Time to crush it, so go Dark Valkyria, take out that weakling with Dark Sphere Blast!"

Letting out a small cry, the female monster moved her hands before her body once more like before. A sphere of black energy formed before her body. In a flash, the female monster threw the attack at the ring creature, which held it's ground, only to be destroyed by the attack.

Lightly giggling, Marie smartly said "Not bad Illidan, but you just triggered Nova Summoner's special ability. When it goes to the Graveyard due to battle, I get to special summon a Fairy Type monster from my deck to the field, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling her deck out, Marie sifted through it for a moment before selecting a card and placing it onto her Duel Disk. "Welcome to the field another Nova Summoner (1400/800)."

Forming on the field in a flash of light was another orange and green ring creature.

"You may have summoned another weakling Marie, but it's about to vanish! Crush it Vampire's Curse!"

Leaping into the air, the blue haired creature came flying downwards at a near blinding speed and slammed a heavy fist into the ring creature. The creature let out a small whimper before exploding and vanishing from the field.

"Not bad Illidan, but you forget, my field spell keeps me from taking Battle Damage, not to mention, you activated Nova Summoner's special ability by destroying it."

Growling lightly, Illidan snarled out "Just summon another pathetic Nova Summoner and be done with it."

"Who said I was going to select it?" Marie slyly asked. "I have something better in mind to summon. You see, Nova Summoner has a second ability that can only be activated when The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field. Since it obviously is, I get to special summon this monster, Airknight Parshath (1900/1400), from my deck."

Forming on the field slowly was a half angel, half horse creature. The angel half wore blue and gold armor, and had wings draping across it's body in different places. In his right hand was a sword, while his left held a shield. The horse half was white, and had wings on it's back.

Glaring at the new creature, Illidan grunted out "I end." (Illidan = 6500, Marie = 6200)

Looking at her deck while fingering the top card, Marie nervously raised her eyes to glance at her husband. "_If I don't draw the right card, Airknight will be crushed next turn. Plus, I have only this turn to do something, because next turn Card of Demise's effect kicks in, keeping me from using whatever card I may draw. I have to make this turn count._"

"Alright, here I go Illidan!" Marie declared while snapping off a new card. Glancing at it, she smirked and jammed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I activate the equip spell Cestus of Dagla, which can only be equipped to a Fairy Type monster, so I hook Airknight up with this card, raising his attack points by 500 (1900 + 500 = 2400/1400)."

Appearing before the half angel, half horse creature was a pair of sharp bladed weapons that were curved blade with a single handle. Dropping it's lance, the angel reached out and took hold of the weapon and brought them into a ready position.

"Time for action, so go Airknight and take out his Dark Valkyria with Dagla Slash!"

Racing forward at a full gallop, the combination creature let out a battle cry while swinging it's twin handled blades at the weaker winged woman. The woman released a primal cry of pain from the twin slashes before exploding, making Illidan cringe lightly from the explosion.

Glowing with a golden aura, Marie firmly said "Thanks to my equip spell, whenever I deal you damage, I gain life points equal to the Battle Damage you took. That means I gain 600 life points."

With her words finished, the golden aura settled while her life point counter increased. "Next, Airknight's effect kicks in, allowing me to draw one card from my deck."

Picking up the card, she silently placed it into a Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I set this and call it a turn." (Illidan = 5900, Marie = 6800)

Snapping off a new card angrily, Illidan's angered look vanished while he smirked. "I activate the spell Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three new cards, but discard two."

Grabbing three new cards, he examined them before selecting two and placing them into the Graveyard. With a sadistic smirk, he smugly said "By the way, one of the cards I just discarded was Makyura the Destroyer, which has a very unique ability. When sent to the Graveyard, I am allowed for this turn alone to play trap cards from my hand. At that, I activate this trap, Escape from the Dark Dimension! With this card, I'm allowed to special summon a Dark Attribute monster from my removed from play pile directly to my field, so I select Mystic Tomato (1400/1100)!"

Rematerializing onto the field in a flash instantly was the orange and red tomato creature that had a vein popping out of it's head and red eyes.

"Next, I sacrifice my worthless creature for a familiar face. Take a look into the mirror Airknight as I summon Darknight Parshath (1900/1400)!"

"Say what!?" Marie asked in surprise.

Vanishing in a glow of dark energy, the tomato disappeared, only to be replaced by a purple glowing black and purple half angel, half horse creature. The horse half of the creature had black fur with purple guards on it's legs, while the half angel half had a black set of wings rolling down it's back, with long orange hair, wearing purple armor with a purple gauntlet attached to it's right arm with a silver blade protruding from it, a silver shield with orange wings hanging off the sides of it, and a purple hat with wings sticking out the sides of it. Upon fully appearing, the angel let out a crazed yell while swinging his sword like lance into ready position.

Staring in shock at the creature, Marie mumbled "How could you do that to a creature that was one of purity and light?"

"Easily since it was worthless before in your hands." Illidan snidely remarked. "Now his effect kicks in. For each Dark Attribute monster in my Graveyard, he gains 100 attack points. Right now, I have nine, meaning he gains 900 extra attack points (1900 + 900 = 2800/1400)."

Releasing a primeval roar, the black armored angel strength increased while a red aura surrounded it's body. At long last, the aura vanished while the purple skinned angel smiled evilly at it's duplicate across the field.

"Crush that weakling of light now Darknight!"

Racing across the field at full gallop, the black armored angel slashed out at it's blue colored double. The double attempted to block, only to find the lance like sword sticking out of it's chest in the end. With a yell, the blue armored angel released a cry before shattering.

"And now, I activate Darknight's special ability, which allows me to remove from play a Dark Attribute monster in my Grave when he destroys a monster on the field. I remove one of my Mystic Tomato's, allowing me to draw a new card (2700/1400)."

Drawing one card, Illidan smirked at it and pointed at the blue haired creature, saying "Go Vampire's Curse, direct attack!"

Eyes widening at the oncoming blue haired creature, Marie called out "I activate my trap, Defense Draw! Thanks to this trap, all Battle Damage I take is zero, then I draw one new card."

Growling in anger while watching his blue haired creature land back before himself and his wife draw a card, Illidan snarled out "That card is useless to you! You will pay for such impudence! I set this card and end!" (Illidan = 5900, Marie = 6800)

Drawing a new card, Marie examined it, only to hear Illidan call out "Don't forget Marie, your little spell card's nasty side effect kicks in. Now toss out your hand!"

Shrugging, Marie placed the two cards into her Graveyard Slot. Smugly staring at Marie, he added "You're finished now, and you know it."

"Hardly." Marie nonchalantly replied. "After all, I have my face down, so watch this! I activate Disgraceful Charity. This trap allows me to return the two cards I just discarded."

Slowly, two cards slid out of the slot and back into Marie's waiting hand, who picked up both and smartly said "Too bad Illidan, I nearly did lose those cards, but no such luck. Now watch as I summon this monster, The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600/0) in defense!"

A fairy with golden skin and blonde hair, as well as golden wings appeared onto the field. She wore a green dress with some gold mixed into it. In front of her were three spheres, one which was blue, another red, and finally a purple one. They were hovering in a triangle like position in front of her body. Fully on the field at last, she crossed her arms and took a kneeling position while a horizontal card image formed below her.

"Next, I play Venus's special ability, allowing me to pay 500 life points in order to special summon from my deck a monster known as Mystical Shine Ball. I'll pay 1000 life points, allowing me to summon two Mystical Shine Balls (500/500)!"

Materializing onto the field in a flash were two twin spheres of shining light with horizontal card images under each.

"That's it for me." (Illidan = 5900, Marie = 5800)

Darkly chuckling while drawing a card from a top his deck, Illidan smartly asked "Is that so? Then watch as I crush your pathetic defenses. I summon Dark Grepher (1700/1600)."

Materializing onto the field was a muscular warrior with dark skin, wearing tight leather armor that had spikes coming out of it's pants legs, a chest plate that covered his lower chest that had two thick straps that had spikes on it as well, with the chest plate having red eyes painted onto it. His arms were completely exposed, with only two small gauntlets on his wrists and a black cloth covering his neck and the back of his head and his forehead. The creature's hair was sickly white and he bore red eyes. In his right hand was a mighty broad sword.

"Dark Grepher, crush her first pathetic Mystical Shine Ball!"

Leaping into the air with his broad sword over head, the warrior came crashing down and sliced cleanly through the sphere in a single sweep, causing it to shatter immediately, leaving the other sphere and the female angel.

"Rid the field of that other sphere now Vampire's Curse!"

Letting out a dark chuckle, the blue haired creature leapt into the air and slammed a heavy fist into the remaining sphere creature. With ease, the blue haired creature smashed through the sphere, causing a small explosion and rustling Marie's clothing.

"Eliminate her remaining monster now Darknight Parshath!"

Galloping across the field, the half angel, half horse creature readied it's lance like sword for an attack. Reaching it's target, the purple armored creature slashed cleanly through the female angel, causing a small explosion to ensue.

"You're defenseless now Marie." Illidan smugly remarked.

Lightly chuckling, Marie flashed defiant eyes at Illidan and firmly replied "Not quite, because you just did what I needed you to do, so thank you."

"What are you babbling on about?"

Innocently giggling, Marie turned the remaining card in her hand towards Illidan before slapping it onto her Duel Disk. Immediately, a blinding white light formed on the field. Slowly appearing out of the light was a strange white armored creature with large white arms with golden spheres at it's shoulders and just above it's wrists, a cone shaped hat, and a white battle skirt that had many ridges. Instead of legs, the creature had white glowing energy pouring out onto the ground.

Eyes narrowing with anger visibly flashing in them, Illidan snarled out "What is that thing!?"

"It's a special monster that was just right for this situation. You see, when I have two or more monsters at the beginning of your Battle Phase and all of them were destroyed in battle, I get to special summon this monster, which is called Tualatin (2800/2500). Oh yeah, and should I happen to summon this monster this way, I'm allowed to declare one Attribute and then all face up monsters with that Attribute are destroyed. Also, so long as my monster is out, you can't Normal or Special Summon a monster with the same Attribute as the declared."

Watching the shock appearing on Illidan's face, Marie smartly added "And guess what, the Attribute I pick is Dark, so that means your three monsters are hitting the Graveyard. Too bad."

One by one, the three creatures standing before Illidan glowed with a blinding white aura and shattered one after the other. Casting a fierce glare at Marie, he grit out "You will pay for that…"

"Unlikely, since you have to end your turn." Marie quipped.

Growling lowly, Illidan glanced at his face down card and then back up at Marie. In a snarl, he said "I end!" (Illidan = 5900, Marie = 5800)

"Wow, she managed to turn things around yet again." Jesse remarked with a touch of shock in his voice.

Nodding, Syrus weakly said "I only hope she can keep this up."

"Me too Sy." Jaden added.

Picking up a new card, Marie glanced at it. Placing it in her left hand, she called out "Go Tualatin, direct attack Illidan with Blinding Light!"

Moving before the wild haired duelist, the white armored creature began shimmering with a white aura. In seconds, the aura flared to life and became blinding while making Illidan scream out in pain from the ferocity of the blast. At long last, the creature backed away, leaving the wild haired duelist with wisps of smoke pouring off of his body.

Staring at Illidan, Marie softly said "Illidan, please, give up on the darkness. Can't you see, it won't help you accomplish your goals? Please, I'm begging you, leave it and come back to me."

Casting his crimson eyes on his wife, Illidan fiercely replied "I will never go back to becoming the weakling you want! Go on and finish!"

"Fine then, I end my move." (Illidan = 3100, Marie = 5800)

"Good, because it's my move!" Illidan declared while drawing a card. Darkly chuckling, he burst into a dark laugh and smirked evilly at Marie.

"You may have blocked me from summoning Dark Attribute monsters, but that's not enough to stop me. I remove from play my remaining Mystic Tomato and Thunder Nyan Nyan from my Grave in order to special summon this, my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash of white light was a warrior in full body black shiny armor, with gold trim on it. In his right hand was a bronze sword, while in his left was a powerful shield. On his head was a helmet with an open face, revealing his skin was light green, with long brown hair falling down his back.

Staring into the warrior's eyes, Marie saw the fear and sadness reflecting from them. "_I wish I had been there to keep this from happening. The darkness has spread throughout Illidan, and he has taken his Duel Spirits down this dark path with them. I will stop him, so please hang on guys, I'll set things right._"

"Crush her pathetic Tualatin with Chaos Slash!"

Hearing her husband's words, Marie watched the black armored warrior swiftly move across the field. In a flash, he vanished, only to reappear behind the white armored creature with his sword out to his right side. A moment passed before the white armored creature exploded into millions of pieces, leaving behind only a small cloud of smoke in it's wake.

"With your monster gone, my monster's effect kicks in. Black Luster Soldier can now attack again, so go direct attack her!"

Swiftly moving across the field, the black armored warrior vanished in a flash while Marie quickly crossed her arms to protect herself. Just as she had, the warrior reappeared behind her with his sword held out to his right side.

In a mere whisper, Marie heard the warrior say "_I'm so sorry Lady Marie. Please forgive me._"

A moment later, she instantly cried out in pain as a slash mark appeared across her chest with blood splashing into the air. Wincing from the pain in her already hurting chest, she began pouring out healing energy over her wound, allowing it to quickly heal over and stop bleeding.

"Marie, it's pointless to keep fighting. This battle will end in your destruction. Just surrender to the darkness."

Casting fierce brown eyes at her husband, she grit out "I'll never quit fighting to save you!"

Releasing an annoyed sigh, Illidan grunted out "I end my move then." (Illidan = 3100, Marie = 2800)

Picking up a new card silently, Marie grimaced lightly from the pain in her chest. "_Even though I healed it, it still hurts like hell. I'm going to have to just put the pain to the side till I can win this duel._"

Regaining her composure, she examined the card for a moment before slapping it horizontally onto her Duel Disk. "I think I'll summon this creature, my last Nova Summoner (1400/800) in defense."

Appearing onto the field in a small flash was a familiar orange striped creature with a rainbow aura surrounding it.

"I place one card face down and call it a turn. Now come and get me, if you dare!" (Illidan = 3100, Marie = 2800)

Sneering, Illidan smugly said while drawing a card "Come and get you, eh? Well, watch this! I summon a monster that will bring your world crashing down! Go Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!"

A mage in maroon colored armor and robes with a sword and maroon shield, along with a maroon cape appeared. Very little of the mages blue skin could be seen, for it was covered by a large cone hat.

"Once I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior, his ability activates. He gains a single Spell Counter, which raises his attack points by 300 (1600 + 300 = 1900/1000)."

A small circle in the center of the mage's shield began to glow light blue. It radiated light energy, showing it's magical properties.

Eyes widening, Marie whispered "No…"

"But yes, Marie!" Illidan countered. "Watch as I activate Breaker's special ability! I remove his Spell Counter, meaning he can crush a spell or trap card on the field. But which one is the question."

Glancing between the towering building behind his wife and the card before her, Illidan smartly said "I could destroy your face down, but then there is your field spell that has been highly annoying. I think I've made my choice. Obliterate her field spell now Breaker!"

Aiming his shield at the large stone building, the mage's shield began glowing with a bright blue light. Without warning, a beam of bright blue energy was released from the shield and went flying towards the large stone building. The blast hit it head on, sending it crashing through the building and creating a large explosion. Immediately, the building began falling apart, with half of it beginning to hurdle downwards towards the ground. All at once, the blue sky faded, along with the building that had been behind Marie.

"Without that pathetic building, you're defenseless. Go Breaker, cut her Nova Summoner to ribbons!"

Racing forward with his maroon cape flapping behind himself, the maroon armored warrior readied his sword for a strike. Reaching the ring creature, the warrior slashed out at the ring creature, easily cutting through it completely, causing it to explode.

Using her right arm to shield her face, Marie growled lightly and called out "Nova Summoner isn't leaving without helping me out. By you destroying it, I get to special summon from my deck another Fairy Type monster with 1500 or less attack points."

Grabbing her deck, Marie sifted through it momentarily before finding the card she desired. Immediately, she slapped it to her Duel Disk, causing a blonde haired male angel with bronzed skin, two large golden wings on his back, and wore a white tunic.

"I summon Shining Angel (1400/800) using Nova Summoner's effect."

Shrugging, Illidan smirked and smartly replied "That may be, but don't forget about my monster. Black Luster Soldier, slice through her new friend with Chaos Slash!"

Rushing across the field, the black armored warrior vanished in a flash, only to reappear behind the blond haired angel with his sword out to his right side. A moment passed before the angel released a mighty howl as three slash marks appeared on it's body. A second later, the angel exploded, leaving Marie cringing from the fierce wind beating against her.

With the wind settling, Marie took a stumbling step forward and firmly said "By taking out Shining Angel, you activated it's special ability. Now I can special summon another Light Attribute monster from my deck to the field, so long as it has 1500 or less attack points."

Pulling her deck out once more, the female brown haired duelist sifted through it before selecting a card and slapping it onto his Duel Disk. Materializing onto the field instantly was another blonde haired angel with golden wings on his back.

"Selecting another Shining Angel (1400/800), eh Marie? How foolish of you." Illidan smugly taunted. "Well, no matter, I'll crush it also and end this duel."

"What do you mean?" Marie questioned.

Darkly chuckling, Illidan pointed at Marie, saying "You seem to have failed to notice how many life points you have. With my last attack, you lost 1600 life points and were left with 1200. Since Black Luster Soldier destroyed one monster in battle already, his special ability allows him to attack again and finish you off."

Eyes widening, Marie took an involuntary step backwards, making her husband smirk even more evilly at her. "It's over Marie, so say your final goodbyes. How pitiful that you didn't last longer than you did. Black Luster Soldier, end this with Chaos Slash!"

Beginning to walk towards the lone blonde haired angel, the black armored warrior whispered "_I'm so sorry Lady Marie. I am so sorry…_"

"Finish her!" Illidan yelled at the warrior.

Obeying his master's wishes, the warrior broke into a run before vanishing from the group's vision. He soon reappeared behind the blonde haired angel like he had the previous attack with his sword out to the right side. The angel within a moment yelled out in pain as three red slash marks appeared on it's chest. Immediately, the angel exploded, causing the entire area around it to be shrouded in smoke.

"Marie!" Jaden cried out with worry on his face.

Staring at the smoke, Syrus whimpered out with tears in his eyes "No, Professor Marie…"

"_How could he?_" Zane growled to himself.

Evilly laughing, Illidan smugly said "So much for my pathetic wife. With her gone, I can move on and crush Lucifer."

"Who said we were finished?"

Eyes narrowing, the wild brown haired duelist watched as the smoke cleared, revealing his wife still standing while panting lightly. "IT CAN'T BE! THIS DUEL SHOULD BE DONE!"

"Should of, could of, would of, but it was all for not." Marie smartly replied. "You should have taken out my face down card Illidan, because thanks to it, I survived that attack. When you attacked, I activated my trap, Aegis of Gaia. With this card, I gained 3000 life points instantly, which saved me from losing this duel. Plus, since you took out Shining Angel, I get to special summon a new monster."

Grabbing her deck once more, she sifted through it before choosing a card. Picking the desired card, she slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "I choose this monster, The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700)."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a green skinned angel with green feathered wings, and strange tattoos on it's shoulders and forehead. The angel wore a blue tunic with white pants, golden wrist bands, golden bands on it's forearms, and held a golden book in it's left hand.

Clenching his hands into tight fists, Illidan angrily snarled out "Fine then Marie, I'll end you soon enough. You will pay for your foolishness! I end…"

"Hold that thought Illidan!" Marie interrupted. "When you move to your End Phase, Mercury's effect kicks in. If I have no cards in my hand, during my Standby Phase, I draw an additional card. Since that is the case, I'll get to draw an extra card."

"Whatever! I end!" (Illidan = 3100, Marie = 2800)

Releasing a small sigh of relief, Jaden mumbled "Thank goodness."

"Yeah, she managed to hang on, but just barely." Jesse commented.

Staring at the female brown haired duelist, Zane mentally mumbled "_Why on earth are you using that card? Don't you know the risks that go with it!?_"

Seeing his brother was intensely staring at Marie, Syrus glanced at her and then back at his brother. "_What could be on his mind?_"

Lightly panting while staring across into the crimson eyes of her husband, Marie drew herself up to her full height and drew a card. Glancing at it, she called out "Don't forget, since it's my Standby Phase, I get to use Mercury's special ability, so I draw another card."

Picking up a new card, she examined it for a moment. Placing it onto her Duel Disk, she calmly said "I summon this, my Gellenduo (1700/0)."

Appearing onto the field in a spray of sparkles was a small pink Jell-O looking creature with blue eyes, ponytails on the sides of it's crescent moon shaped head, and a white ring surrounding it's body. Next to it appeared a small green creature with a rain drop like head, blue eyes, a single ponytail on the top of it's head, and a white ring of energy around it's body.

"What pathetic looking creatures." Illidan grunted out.

Lightly giggling, Marie smartly replied "I wouldn't count out what looks weak. They may not look like much, but just you wait, they'll take you down a notch. Allow me to show you. Gellenduo, attack Breaker with Spinning Ring Slash!"

Beginning to spin rapidly, the green and pink creatures turned into blurs while only the white rings became visible. Without warning, the pair vanished, only to reappear behind the maroon armored warrior while stopping their spinning. The warrior quickly glanced behind himself, only to suddenly explode and vanish from the field.

"See what I mean." Marie admonished. "I set one card and switch Mercury to defense. That's it for me." (Illidan = 3000, Marie = 2800)

Growling with frustration, Illidan snapped off a new card and glanced at it. "It's time I finished you off, once and for all! I play this spell, The Beginning of the End! You see, to activate it, I have to have seven or more Dark Attribute monsters in my Grave. Since I do, I can remove five from play and then draw three new cards. My selections are Darklord Zerato, Darknight Parshath, Breaker the Magical Warrior, Apprentice Magician, and finally Dark Armed Dragon."

One by one, the five cards slid out of his Graveyard Slot into a small pile. Picking up the five cards, the wild haired duelist placed them within his removed from play slot. Returning his attention to his deck, he picked up three new cards and smirked.

"It looks like it's time to crush you once and for all! I've had fun with this duel, but all good things much come to an end. Speaking of the end, watch as I remove from play my Vampire's Curse and Dimensional Alchemist…"

"Wait, how did that get in there!?" Marie asked with confusion visibly on her face.

Darkly chuckling, Illidan calmly replied "When I used Graceful Charity earlier, I discarded it along with Makuyra the Destroyer. Come now Marie, you should remember such things. Now then, I remove them from play in order to special summon your end, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Emerging onto the field instantly was a massive black dragon with an orange mane, powerful black wings, a long strong tail, large and strong clawed arms and legs. The dragon let out a massive roar in an attempt to strike fear into the two weaker monsters across the field.

"Crush her Gellenduo now Black Luster Soldier with Chaos Slash!"

Pointing at her face down card, Marie called out "Hold that thought Illidan, for I have a trap! Go Negate Attack! Just like it says, your attack is negated, plus the Battle Phase is ended, so no dice on getting rid of me just yet, Illidan."

Growling lightly, the wild haired duelist jammed a card into a Spell/Trap Slot and grit out "I end!" (Illidan = 3000, Marie = 2800)


	46. Chapter 45: Returning the Favor, Pt 4

**Hey gang! Sorry about this chapter being a week late. Last week, I just didn't find enough time to finish this chapter up sadly. Plus, with it being Christmas last week, I didn't have a lot of home time to write either, or any work time for that matter. At any rate, I had a good set of Christmas's (I say this due that I had three technically. One on Christmas Eve with my mom's family, one on Christmas Day with my dad's side, and then Saturday with my mate's family). My mate and I got what we wanted, I think, hehe. At any rate, we had a good time and all throughout the Christmas time. Monday, I woke up sick, which truly sucked. I eventually got better throughout the day, thankfully. It was just a 24 hour deal, but I'm still feeling some of the effects today. Not many, but a few. Other than that, not much is really new in my life.**

**Writing wise, well, like I said, I managed to finish my chapter today. I had planned to release it over the weekend, but I didn't finish sadly. Still, I'm working at keeping this story up to date as often as possible. Ardee and I have several plans for what is to come, so no worries.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Raymond Barrett: Thanks. Heh, yeah, this duel could go either way. Neither of the lovers seem willing to let the other win, with Marie fighting for more it seems than Illidan. Still, neither of them have the advantage really. Never know, Illidan could defeat his wife and send her to the Shadows. Anything is possible. Thanks for your review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yeah, the battle kind of did become a battle between light and Chaos in the end. True, Illidan made mistakes, along with Marie, but the truth of the matter is, their decks are much larger than 40 cards. Honestly, one time, back in **_**ToP**_**, I had it labeled that he had 60 some cards. Since then I've tried to keep it trimmed down, but his decks do tend to be a little larger than they should be. I believe his current deck is around 60 cards as well. I know, in real life, not playable, but this is a fan fic. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself, lol. But yeah, he has more than 40 cards, so no worries of him decking out. The same is similar for Marie. At any rate, thanks for the review!**

**Genma no Ou: Heh, that's cool about recanting. Thunder Nyan Nyan does have advantages and disadvantages in being within a more dark version of Illidan's Chaos deck, but again, there are trade offs for it too. But yes, using Thunder Nyan Nyan did help him out. Thanks about the choice of Tualatin as a choice. I kind of liked that card. Defense Draw is most definitely most interesting. Heh, yeah, darkness did come out on top in most of the matchups, but the duel isn't over yet, so we'll see who in the end reigns supreme. Thanks for the review!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Ah, Demonic Roaring Gods instead of Legendary Roaring Gods. Still clueless, lol. Glad you liked my previous chapter, and yeah, the two keep going back and forth, but one of them has to win eventually. True, it seems to be taking a lot out of Marie just to keep herself from losing the duel. She's digging deep without a doubt, but how much longer she can hang on is the question I suppose. Yeah, she seems to have faith she can still break through to the person she loved. Only time will tell if she can finally get through to him. True, she'll need to do something big to wake him up. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate them. I'm glad to see that everyone still likes how things are going, and I only hope you all continue to enjoy my new chapters.**

**As far as how many chapters are left, well, we'll have to see. I'm thinking we're on the last 10-15 stretch, possibly. We'll have to see what Ardee and I come up with. At any rate, I hope to have this story complete within the next month or two. I'm thinking the end of February, but maybe before, I don't know. It depends on how hard we work on this story.**

**Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy and Happy New Year!**

**Stats from previous chapter:**

**Life Points:**

**Illidan = 3000**

**Marie = 2800**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500), Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)**

**Marie: The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700) (d), Gellenduo (1700/0)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: Ultimate Offering (t)**

**Marie: Aegis of Gaia (t)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan: 0**

**Marie: 0**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Illidan = 2**

**Marie = 2**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Marie = 0**

**Number of face up spell/trap:**

**Illidan = 1**

**Marie = 1**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's Graveyard: 4**

**Number of Dark Attribute monsters in Illidan's removed from play pile: 13**

**Chapter 45**

"That was so close." Syrus commented while wiping his brow.

Nodding in agreement, Jesse added "She pulled out a close maneuver, that's for sure."

"Heh, that's just how Marie is." Jaden remarked. "Then again, it was a little too close I think."

"Indeed." Zane added.

On the field, Marie stared into the anger filled eyes of her husband. Not even flinching, she drew her new card, saying "Since Mercury survived that round and I had no cards in my hand during your End Phase, I get an extra card."

Picking up a second card, she glanced at it before saying "I sacrifice Gellenduo, which I should mention has a special ability. When I sacrifice it in order to summon a Light Fairy Type monster, it counts as a double sacrifice. Since that is the case here, I'm sacrificing it in order to summon this, Splendid Venus (2800/2400)!"

Vanishing from the field in a glow of golden light, the small pink and green creatures disappeared as a new golden glowing figure appeared. The figure was a powerful four white winged female angel with glowing golden skin showing from her face and hands. She wore a set of golden robes that covered her entire body that had jewels around her sleeves, shoulders, and chest area. On her shoulders sat a set of matching golden armor that fell to just below her chest. In her left hand, she held a long golden staff that had a large circular like shape at the top and a single red jewel in the center of the staff. Her head was covered by a helmet with two white wings that fluttered out to the side, with three points that formed a top her head.

"So you summoned a new weakling, eh?" Illidan taunted. "What good will she do!? She has only 2800 attack points, meaning you're 200 shy of beating either of my monsters!"

Giggling innocently, Marie smirked and replied "And you should know that attack points are everything. It's all about the special effects!"

About to respond, the wild haired duelist gasped as suddenly the golden aura surrounding the female angel began to glow brightly. Both the black armored warrior and the black dragon each shuddered from the light while their bodies glowed with a red aura, causing them to lose strength ((3000 – 500 = 2500/2500 – 500 = 2000) x 2).

"WHAT!?" Illidan bellowed. Glaring at his wife, he snarled out "What has your creature done to my monsters!?"

"I told you, it's all about the special effect. While on the field, Venus lowers all non-Fairy Type monsters' attack and defense points by 500. That means your monsters are too weak to compete with her."

Pointing at the glowing fairy, Marie added "Take out his Black Luster Soldier now with Shining Staff Strike!"

Twirling her staff rapidly while moving towards the black armored warrior, the female angel struck out at the warrior with her staff, easily cutting through the warrior's shield and into it's chest. A gasp of surprise escaped the warrior before suddenly exploding, leaving Illidan shielding his face from the blast.

Placing the remaining card in her hand within an empty Spell/Trap Slot, Marie said "I set this and end my turn." (Illidan = 2700, Marie = 2800)

Growling lowly while picking up his card, Illidan yelled out "You will pay for your foolishness! Watch as I activate a card that will begin your descent into the darkness!"

Holding his arm up vertically, the wild haired duelist tapped the end of his Duel Disk and revealed the card he had drawn. In a smug tone, he said "I activate the field spell, Chaos Control!"

With the wild haired duelist placing his card into the slot, the field instantly began to darken as looming black clouds filled in the area. Lightning began flashing out of the clouds, while thunder boomed across the sky while a cave appeared behind the crazed duelist.

"That's not good…" Syrus mumbled with concern filling his eyes.

Eyeing the cave behind his teacher, Jaden added "Yeah, that's definitely not good. With that, he'll have the advantage over Marie. But she has a slight advantage herself."

"Let's just hope it's enough for her to win." Jesse commented.

Sneering at his wife, Illidan smugly spoke up, saying "As you know, with Chaos Control, once per a turn, I can special summon one monster from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile to the field that has the word 'Envoy' or 'Chaos' in it's name. Of course, the trade off is I can't draw cards any longer, but I have no need for any other cards. Now then, I activate Chaos Control's effect, allowing me to bring from my deck the mighty Chaos Sorcerer (2300/2000)!"

Instantly, bolts of lightning began raining down onto the field, striking it randomly in different areas. At long last, a powerful bolt poured from the sky before the crazed duelist. From the lightning, a human like creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes appeared. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well. Once fully on the field, the monster let out a small battle cry.

"With Chaos Sorcerer on the field, the stage is set to finish you." Illidan smartly commented. Turning the remaining card in his hand towards his wife, he smirked at her shocked reaction. "I play the spell Chaos Control, allowing me to fuse Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End and Chaos Sorcerer to create a new Chaos monster!"

In a flash, the black dragon and the purple skinned mage began swirling together, causing a dark black aura to form onto the field. Appearing out of the aura slowly was pitch black dragon with massive purple wings, a white head with a jet black mane, a single ivory horn sticking off of it's nose, mighty arms and legs, and a powerful tail. Releasing a mighty roar, the dragon shook the entire area, but the golden skinned fairy stood her ground, along with her master.

"Meet Chaos Twilight Dragon – Envoy of Hell (3200/2400)!"

Staring at the new dragon, Marie slyly replied "I'm not afraid Illidan, or have you forgotten about the special ability of Venus? Your dragon automatically loses 500 of it's attack and defense points (2700/1900)."

"I realize that Marie, but you should know, my dragon won't roll over and die that easily. After all, as you put it so elegantly earlier, it's all about the special ability, which I now activate. By giving up 500 of my life points and not attacking, my dragon can now remove from play one card on the field. My choice is rather clear, I do believe. It's your angel that will be leaving us."

Releasing a mighty roar while it's master's body glowed with a light red aura, the black dragon with a white head spread it's wings and took flight into the air. Opening it's jaws, the dragon revealed dark black energy forming within it's throat and preparing to be spewed out.

Pointing at her face down card, which slowly rose up, Marie called out "I can't save Venus, but I can get the most use out of her as I can. I reveal the spell Tyrant's Rise, which requires me to sacrifice two monsters. The two I choose are obviously Mercury and Venus, so farewell my faithful angels."

"Not quite Marie!" Illidan bellowed. "I reveal the trap Magic Drain! Thanks to this trap, you must now discard a spell card from your hand in order to negate my trap. If not, then your spell is negated. Ironically, you have no choice in the matter, so oh well."

Lightly giggling, Marie shook her head, saying "You're so foolish Illidan. If you think you can negate my spell, you're mistaken. You see, Venus has another ability I neglected to tell you about."

Without warning, the golden armored angel's aura flared to life, sending out a small wave of golden energy, instantly shattering the face up trap card facing the wild haired duelist.

"WHAT!?"

Innocently giggling, the female duelist smirked and smartly said "Venus's second ability keeps my spell and trap cards from being negated. That means you can't stop this spell. At that, I'll sacrifice Venus and Mercury, meaning you just wasted 500 life points since your monster now has no target to hit."

Growling lowly while watching the two angel creatures vanish, Illidan snarled out "It doesn't matter, because you just lost your two monsters!"

"True, but who said they were gone for no reason?" Marie taunted. "When Tyrant's Rise gets rid of my two monsters, I'm allowed to special summon a certain monster from my deck, hand, or Graveyard. Since he's in my deck, I choose to summon him from there."

Pulling her deck out, the female duelist searched through it till she found the card she desired. Shuffling her deck and replacing it within it's slot, she held the card before her with the back of it facing her husband.

"This card has been with me for a very long time. Long ago, five millennia ago, this monster helped save my life when I was a young child. Once I had grown up and finished my training with you, I used this same monster to win the battle that you and I fought for my admittance onto the Shadow Court. In later years, it helped save Egypt from the rampage of the three Egyptian Gods. And since we were reborn into this new lives that we share, this card has never failed me, with it helping you defeat many enemies, as well as help protect me. This monster is my Duel Spirit and forever will be here to help and protect me. Now get ready Illidan to face off with Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500)!"

A loud roar suddenly filled the area, making the remaining black dragon glance around for the source. Soon enough, diving out of the sky at high speed was a large dark orange dragon with massive wings, skin like fins on the sides of it's head, powerful clawed hands and feet, and a mighty tail. Slowing it's descent, the dragon leveled out and slammed it's powerful legs onto the ground, sending out a small tremor. Glaring at the black dragon across the field, the dark orange dragon released yet another mighty roar, attempting to strike fear into it's enemy.

Staring at the new dragon, Illidan slowly began darkly chuckling, which eventually turned into a maniacal laugh. Finally calming himself, he sneered at the dragon and his wife, saying "That dragon, like yourself, is nothing to me. Neither of you have the power to stop me from completing my goals. Do as you please Marie, but this duel will end soon. For now, I shall end my turn since there is nothing else I can do at the moment, but be warned, on my next turn, I'll finish you off." (Illidan = 2200, Marie = 2800)

Preparing to draw her new card, Marie stopped and glanced at her deck. Looking at it, she mentally said "_This is it. No matter what, I have to draw the right card here and now. If I don't, Illidan will crush Tyrant Dragon in his next turn, and then I'll be wide open to him. I have to draw the right card, or it's over._"

"_Marie, do not worry._"

Glancing at the orange dragon before her, she heard it add "_Your deck will not fail you. No matter what, we will save Illidan. Have faith._"

Mentally smiling, the female duelist nodded and turned her fierce brown eyes towards her husband. "_No matter what, I will save him. Even if I must lay down my own life, I'll save him from the darkness!_"

"Get ready Illidan, because here I come!" Marie yelled while drawing her new card. A small smile crept onto her face as she turned it towards her husband, saying "I activate this, Card of Sanctity! Thanks to this spell, we each draw till we hold six cards in our hands. Since neither of us hold any, that means we each pick up six cards!"

"What was she thinking!?" Zane questioned. "She's giving Illidan an advantage…"

Staring at the female duelist, Jaden spoke up, saying "Maybe so, but she had no real choice. And besides, she may be helping herself out as well."

Hearing dark chuckling filling the air, the group looked back across the field to see it was the wild haired duelist. Bursting out loud into a maniacal laugh, Illidan pointed an accusing finger at his wife, saying "You are so foolish! If you think this strategy will work out for you in the end, you are a bigger fool than I thought!"

"Whatever, just draw your cards." Marie grumbled.

Shrugging, the wild haired duelist began drawing six cards, much like his wife did. With their cards drawn, the pair stared at one another for a moment before Marie smirked.

"Well Illidan, if you think my move was foolish, then you won't mind when I take you out. It begins by me summoning Majestic Mech – Ohka (2400/1400)!"

A lion like creature made up of red and pink energy with powerful energy wings then roared onto the field. It's tail was made like a pink blade, and a majority of it's body glowed brightly.

Frowning, Syrus slowly asked "How did she summon that card? It's a level six, so she had to sacrifice a monster to summon it."

"Not quite, Sy." Jesse commented. "It has a special ability, allowing her to summon it without a tribute. The only catch is it is destroyed in the End Phase of this turn."

"Oh…"

Back on the field, Illidan sneered at the new creature, asking "Come now Marie, how do you expect to beat me with weaklings like that?"

Pulling another card from her hand and jamming it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, she smirked as the card rose up. "I had a plan Illidan, so check this out. It's the spell known as Gift of the Martyr! With this, I can sacrifice Ohka and add it's attack points to Tyrant Dragon for this turn alone (2900 + 2400 = 5300/2500)."

Vanishing in a brilliant golden glow, the golden energy instantly began coating the dark orange dragon. With a mighty roar, the dragon spread it's wings while it's power increased greatly.

Pointing at the black dragon across the field, Marie yelled out "Take out his Chaos Twilight Dragon with Tyrant Flame!"

Releasing a mighty roar once more, the large dark orange dragon spread it's wings and took flight. Glaring down at the black dragon, the dark orange dragon threw back it's head while flames licked it's lips. Throwing it's head back forward, the dark orange dragon released a stream of searing hot read flames. The flames struck the black dragon with a heavy impact, making howl in pain before exploding. Once through the black dragon, the flames continued onwards towards the wild haired duelist. The flames struck out at the wild haired duelist, causing a massive explosion to form with smoke flooding the area.

Staring at the smoke, Marie took an involuntary step towards it, only to hear the dark orange dragon growl at her, reminding her to stay back. Obeying, she stared at the smoke, only to suddenly see it disperse with a mighty wind, revealing her husband standing in the exact same spot he had been in with a smirk on his face.

"Wait, what happened? You should have lost almost all of your life points!" Marie declared.

Darkly chuckling, Illidan smugly replied "I should have, if not for the fact I had a card in my hand that reduced the Battle Damage to zero."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, which glowed to life, the wild haired duelist smirked as a monster card slid out. Holding it up to show his wife, he smirked at her gasp of surprise.

"That's right Marie, I discarded Kuriboh. When sent to my Graveyard, I reduced all the Battle Damage you would have inflicted upon me to zero. You may have destroyed my monsters, but I still took no damage. Nice try though, but it proves once more that you are no match for me."

Lightly growling, Marie glanced at the remaining cards in her hand and slid three into empty Spell/Trap Slots. "I set these three cards and end my move. Since I am, my dragon loses all of his extra attack points (2900/2500)." (Illidan = 2200, Marie = 2800)

"The end is near, Marie." Illidan smartly commented.

Casting her fierce brown eyes at her husband, the female duelist replied "Yes, it is, but this duel won't end with your victory, I can guarantee that."

"Just admit it, you've lost. Against my superior skills, you're no match."

Shaking her head, Marie closed her eyes for a moment, only to reopen them and show tenderness within them. "I know you can't do it Illidan. You've already proven to me that you haven't given in completely to the darkness."

Darkly chuckling, the wild haired duelist sneered and asked "And what makes you think that? Isn't it enough proof that I desire to eliminate you from this world with my own two hands?"

Shaking her head once more, Marie warmly smiled and replied "No, you can't send me away. The proof is in the offer you made me earlier. If I truly meant nothing to you at all, then you would never have given me the chance to surrender. Furthermore, you wouldn't have offered for me to take Arya back to our home and for us to never seek you out."

"Besides, you turned to the darkness for all the right reasons in your mind. To you, sacrificing your own soul in order to gain the power you thought you needed to rescue Arya was the right decision to you."

Pausing for a moment, Marie slowly added "But you were wrong. If there is one thing that you have taught me over the years, it is that there is always another way. Giving into the darkness will make you stronger, but you lose so much if you do. And though you claim to have sacrificed everything that you are to the darkness, you're wrong. I can still sense the same man that I fell in love with within you. Your devotion to protect Arya and me is proof enough. That's why I can't believe that the person I once knew as my husband is gone. I can never believe that he's gone. There is still kindness within your heart. So please Illidan, I'm begging you, let go of the darkness and return to your old self. Together we can save Arya, for our love is much stronger than the darkness ever could be."

Remaining quiet for a few moments while hiding his eyes within the shadow of his bangs, Illidan slowly raised his head to reveal his crimson eyes once more. Slowly, he began to darkly chuckle till finally his laughter built up into a booming sound. Stopping at last, he sneered at Marie and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Don't pretend to know me, Marie. The reasons I allowed myself to become the darkness are not as you think. You, along with all of the others, held me back for far too long! Now that I am free of my petty attachments, I am far more powerful than any of you could ever become! My power has no limits, so don't think that anything you say or do can change my mind, ever! I will finish you and send you to the Shadows, where you will wallow in despair forever, along with Seto and Haou! Now prepare yourself to enter that realm."

"Unfortunately for me, or fortunately for you I suppose, since I have Chaos Control on the field still yet, I cannot draw a card from my deck. Still, that doesn't matter." Illidan commented. "I activate Chaos Control's effect, allowing me to special summon any of my Chaos monsters to the field. Return now my Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000/2500)!"

Lightning instantly began flashing throughout the sky, striking the ground in multiple places. At long last, a mighty burst of lightning struck the ground. With the bolt vanishing, a large black dragon with an orange mane and massive wings appeared.

Sneering, Illidan pulled a card from his left hand and displayed it to Marie, saying "I next activate the spell Chaos Revisited! With this, I pay half my life points in order to special summon a monster with 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name to my field from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile. My choice is my hand, so rise up my final Chaos monster and help me bring despair to my former wife! Rise Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600)!"

Gasping in surprise, Marie could hardly suppress her shock as a blue skinned mage wearing black tight fitting leather armor appeared onto the field. The mage wore a strange mage's hat and held a black staff in his two hands. Slowly, the mage opened his eyes, revealing saddened yellow corneas and red irises.

"_The Dark Magician of Chaos, he's most affected by Illidan's darkness. He was always the closest connected to Illidan. How could Illidan do this to his Duel Spirit!?_" Marie mentally questioned.

Staring straight at Marie, the mage whispered "_Lady Marie… Forgive me for allowing my master to fall to the darkness…_"

"QUIET!" Illidan bellowed. "YOU WILL NOT TALK WITH HER!"

Cringing at the sound of his master, the mage turned his eyes towards the ground. "You worthless mage, you are nothing but a nuisance. Still, I do need you to defeat Lucifer, so you shall remain with me for the time being."

"Illidan, how could you treat your Duel Spirit like that?" Marie asked with concern in her voice.

Casting his crimson eyes at the female duelist, the wild haired duelist smirked, saying "I treat him as he deserves to be treated. That mage is completely useless. All he does is the same thing you have. He spouts useless words, saying I have chosen the wrong path, but I distinctly remember him telling me that he would follow me down whatever road I choose."

"No matter though, I will use him to crush you, for you see Marie, I am putting an exclamation point on your defeat. I activate his special ability, allowing me to transfer one spell from my Grave to my hand. My choice is Chaos Fusion."

Lightly gasping in surprise, Marie watched as the spell card slowly slid out of her husband's Graveyard and into his awaiting hand. Sneering while placing it within his hand, he smugly said "I could fuse my two monsters together and crush you, but I have a better plan in mind. I play the spell Double Spell, which forces me to discard one spell from my hand. I send Chaos Fusion back to my Graveyard, meaning I can now claim a spell card from your Graveyard for my own use."

"My choice is a simple once. I use Double Spell to activate Gift of the Martyr, which allows me to now sacrifice my worthless dragon and add it's attack points to this useless mage (2800 + 3000 = 5800/2600)!"

Letting out a small roar before vanishing, the black dragon disappeared without a trace on the field while the black armored mage's body glowed with a brilliant golden glow as his strength increased.

Sneering at his wife, the wild haired duelist smugly said "With that, my monster is more than capable of removing you from this world, but I know you, my sneaky kitty. After all, you laid three face downs onto the field. But I know you better than anyone else, right? That's why I know you laid a certain trap onto the field. That would be Tyrant's Rage!"

"That's the card Marie used to beat Yubel when she controlled me." Jesse mumbled softly.

Frowning, Syrus asked "What does it do?"

"It allows her dragon to absorb the attack points of the strongest monster on the field and add those points to it's own. To use it, she'll have to give up half her life points." Zane informed. "But if Illidan knows she has it down, that could be trouble."

"No joke." Jaden commented. "It means he can figure out a way to counter it, possibly."

Nervously glancing between Illidan and her face down cards, Marie mumbled "You might be right, but it doesn't matter."

"We shall see, won't we, my sweet Marie?" Illidan taunted. "Now then, I activate this card, Mystical Space Typhoon! This spell enables me to destroy one spell or trap on the field, so I choose one of your face downs. Which one though, that is the question."

Sneering at his wife, the wild haired duelist smartly said "I know which. You see, you are too predictable Marie. Always, you place Tyrant's Rage to the right of your dragon. So I choose that card!"

Flying out of the face up spell card in an instant, a single swirling cyclone began flying across the field straight for the face down card image. Slamming into it, the face down card was forced to rise, revealing it to be a trap with an image of the dark orange dragon on it. In a flash, the trap shattered, leaving only the other two face down cards and the lone face up trap.

"See Marie, I knew exactly what you had planned!" Illidan gloated. "You planned on increasing your dragon's strength, but you foolishly placed it in the place I knew you'd put it in! Now you are finished!"

Growling lightly, Marie grit out "We'll see about that."

"Yes, we will! Go Dark Magician of Chaos, crush her Tyrant Dragon and send her into the Shadows for all eternity! Chaos Scepter Blast!"

Looking up at the female duelist with glistening eyes, the blue skinned mage whimpered out "_I am truly sorry, Lady Marie. Please, forgive me for what I must do…_"

Raising his staff, the mage began sending dark magical energy into the end of it. A sphere of black swirling magic instantly formed at the tip. Unable to hold it any longer, the mage pointed the staff at the dark orange dragon and released the sphere of energy. The blast went racing forward towards the dragon, who stood it's ground, along with it's master.

"GAME OVER MARIE! FAREWELL!"

"Not quite Illidan! I'm not about to give up on you yet, so don't give up me either!" Marie declared. "I reveal my trap, DNA Transplant! Thanks to this trap, I can change the Attribute of all monsters on the field to any selected type that I declare. I choose Light!"

Glowing with a light white aura, both the dragon and the dark armored mage let out a small grunt while their bodies shimmered with the aura.

"Why bother?" Illidan questioned. "Do you think the light will save me!?"

Slightly smirking, Marie replied "Not really, but I think it'll do more than you thought possible. You see, my true plan wasn't to use Tyrant's Rage on you. I knew you'd find it and destroy it."

Eyes widening, Illidan bellowed "WHAT!? But how!?"

"You think you know me better than I do myself, and that maybe true, but you forgot one important fact Illidan." Marie stated. "I know you better than you know yourself, hence why I was able to predict your move. And that's why this must end here and now."

Revealing the remaining card in her hand, she calmly said "I activate the special ability of this monster, known as Honest. By discarding him to my Graveyard, I can increase the attack points of a Light Attribute monster's attack points by the same number of the attacking monster. That means my dragon gains the same number of attack points as your monster (2900 + 5800 = 8700/2500)."

Releasing a mighty roar, the dark orange dragon's glowing white aura became blinding while it's strength increased dramatically.

"That's why…" Illidan began, only to be interrupted by Marie. "That's right, that's why I played DNA Transplant. I needed a Light Attribute monster, and obviously, Tyrant Dragon isn't, but thanks to my trap, he had no problem using Honest's effect. And now, Tyrant Dragon, counter attack with Tyrant Flame!"

Once more releasing a terrifying roar, the dragon spread it's wings and took flight into the air. Opening it's jaws, the dark orange dragon released a stream of red hot searing flames at the oncoming sphere of energy. The two attacks met in the middle of the field, causing a massive shockwave to form. Both blasts pushed back on one another for a moment before the flames pushed the sphere backwards. The stream engulfed the weaker mage, who only slightly smiled at the blast.

"_Thank you, Lady Marie…_" the mage whispered before vanishing.

Eyes widening at the incoming attack, Illidan released a mighty howl as the stream hit him. The flames licked at his clothing, burning through it with ease.

Watching her husband suffering from her monster's attack, Marie released a few tears that streamed down her cheeks. "Illidan, I'm so sorry, but I won't let you slip into the Shadows. I activate my final card, Mystical Space Typhoon! By playing this, I destroy my Aegis of Gaia. In doing this, I now lose 3000 life points."

"But that means…" Jaden mumbled.

Staring at the fading blast, Zane said "That means the duel is a draw."

"But what does that mean for those two!?" Jesse asked in confusion.

Before anyone could reply, a sphere of darkness suddenly began forming on the field and encircling the pair of lovers, hiding them from the group.

In shock, the group yelled "ILLIDAN, MARIE!"


	47. Chapter 46: Understanding

**Hey everyone! Sorry for this being a slight bit late. It happens unfortunately from time to time when things are going on. At any rate, this week has been a bit busy, and sad too. Friday morning, one of my two (technically, they're my dad's, but I still count them as mine) dogs died. You see, Thursday night, the temperature was down to -1 one, and the same for Friday night. Unfortunately, my two dogs are outside dogs, but my dad told me he had stoked their boxes full of hay to keep them warm. He went out Friday morning to find the male one, Brutus, seemingly dead. Apparently he had died not long before dad got out there, due that his body was still warm and he wasn't stiff. Dad tried to save him by performing CPR and working to warm him up by bringing him inside the garage, but it was too late. The other, the female dog, Daisy, dad brought her inside too. She was shivering, but seemed to know something was wrong with her brother (Brutus). Dad brought her in after he had finished trying to work on Brutus. She immediately went and laid down next to the body of her brother. I think she knew he was dead, or something was wrong with him, though I'm unsure. Anyways, I went and checked on her during the day Friday and took her out for a walk. Once I had walked her, I brought her in and covered her back up in blankets due that she was shivering a bit still. I saw her today, and she still was shivering a bit, but due that it was still pretty cold I figure. Otherwise, my week was alright I suppose. Just sucks it ended on such a sad note.**

**Writing wise, things are coming along. This story is still slated to maybe end by the end of February, but we'll see. No guarantees. Btw, if any of you are holding out for a sequel, I hate to disappoint, but this is the end of the series. It's kind of sad, but it's the truth, so I just thought I'd inform those who didn't know.**

**Moving along, it's time for reviews.**

**Genma no Ou: Yep, a nice twist with the tie at the end. Heh, yeah, a tie that did kind of cast questions upon what is going on now. Hmm, interesting I made that mistake. I'll look into it to see. Thanks for pointing it out if I did. Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: LOL! Yeah, he has a large deck, which is illogical by all means, but then again, look at the decks Yugi and the others have used in the past. They had to be at least 100 cards thick at times, lol. Actually, his hand wasn't empty. He had one card left, and that was Chaos Fusion. So, no cheating for him, at least I think not. The card numbers came out right when I wrote it, so I'm hoping he didn't pull a Yugi. True, he could have used Chaos Sorcerer to remove a monster, but he hastily decided to summon his Chaos Fusion monster instead. Glad you thought the ending was surprising. Marie's deck really has no monster destruction cards, so Ring of Destruction was out of the question. Plus that would be too ironic for her to use the same card he used to save her with back in **_**The Wolves Seal**_**. But yes, you're right, Marie could have won, but she chose not to. Why is yet to be explained… Heh, nah, this isn't the end, yet. It's coming, but not quite yet. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate it. If someone added my fic to their favs or alerts, I apologize for not remembering. It's been a long week or two, so I've kind of forgotten stuff like that. In any regards, thank you, all of you, for your continued support of this story. It is nearing the end, but that's how it goes sometimes.**

**Anyways, I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 46**

Floating in mid-air with little light filling the area, Marie lightly moaned as her eyes slowly cracked open. Opening them more, she glanced around at her surroundings, finding her husband floating nearby, glaring at her.

Seeing his wife was finally stirring, the wild haired duelist cast a fierce glare at her and growled lightly at her. Unafraid, the female duelist floated closer.

"Illidan, it's alright, I'm here now." she softly said while reaching out for him.

Pulling away, Illidan turned his back on Marie and grit out "If you only had stayed away like I asked you to, none of this would have happened."

"That's not fair, Illidan." she sharply lashed back. "Illidan, I love you with all of my heart and soul. I will never abandon you."

Clasping her hands together over her chest, she added "I understand why you gave into the darkness. You did it to protect Arya and myself, and to gain the power you thought necessary to defeat Lucifer. In your mind, you did it for the right reasons, but in reality, you were wrong."

Reaching out and softly embracing Illidan from behind, she whispered "Alone, you could not hope to prevail against Lucifer. Illidan, haven't you learned over the years that our love is what makes us strong? It's our love that has given each of us greater strength when we called upon it. Our love is what made us who we are. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be the person who I am now without our love. The love we share can conquer any darkness. That is why I couldn't give up in our duel. If I gave up, the love that we shared was for nothing. Please, don't say that it was for nothing, because I know you better than that."

Feeling his back beginning to grow wet from the tears his wife was shedding, the wild haired duelist remained still. At long last, in a mere whisper, he asked "Why did you do it?"

"Huh?"

Turning around and looking down at his wife with eyes that were a lighter shade of crimson, almost nearly brown, he asked again "Why did you tie the duel? You could have won."

Weakly smiling, Marie quietly said "If I had won the duel, you'd have been mad that I forced you to revert back to your former self, and more than likely gone back down the same road again and released the darkness."

"Besides, knowing that I sent you into the Shadows is not something I wanted. I love you, Illidan, no matter what. And for that reason alone, I decided to give you the choice in what to do. Do you remain in the darkness, believing in this farce that you say gives you the strength to save Arya? Or do you believe in our love once more and use it as your source of strength again? That is why I ended the duel in a tie. I leave you with the choice and you alone. No matter what though, I will remain by your side."

Taking in the words that Marie had spoken, the wild haired duelist closed his eyes and turned away from his wife. "_She is giving me the choice? Instead of making me return to the way I was, she allows me to make my own decision?_"

Remaining quiet for a moment, he mumbled in his mind "_She speaks the truth though. The darkness that I gave into is nothing more than a farce. I say that I no longer care about anyone, or about their well-being, yet here I find myself concerned for her. That and the pang of guilt and fear I felt when I launched my final attack against her in our duel._"

"_And then there is my reasoning for giving into the darkness. I did it to save both Marie and Arya, and to save all of my friends and family. Now look at what I've done… Instead of protect them, I've destroyed some of them. Seto and Jaden have both suffered at my hands, and I would have done the same to Marie without batting an eye. For that reason, and that reason alone, I cannot continue as is._"

Noting her husband's body was glowing with a dark aura, Marie took a small step backwards, only to stop and move forward. Embracing Illidan from behind, she whispered "No matter what you choose, I will always be with you."

A moment passed before suddenly the darkness the pair were in vanished, revealing them to the group outside. Forming on the ground not far from where the couple stood embracing were three figures, each seemingly unconscious. The light surrounding each slowly vanished, revealing their identities to the group.

"Chazz, Alexis, and Seto!" Syrus exclaimed in shock.

With a bit of help from Jesse, Jaden stood up and the group all moved closer to the three unconscious figures. Kneeling down at each of their sides, the group checked the three to make sure they were alive.

Letting out a small sigh, Zane mumbled "It looks like they're just unconscious for now."

"Yeah, they'll be fine, I think." Syrus added.

Glancing at the pair still embracing one another, the group watched as the dark glow surrounding the pair slowly vanished. Releasing her hold on her husband's back, Marie stepped back a few steps.

After a moment, Illidan turned to face the group, revealing his hair had tamed down somewhat, and his eyes, unlike before that had held anger and hate within a crimson color, were now cleared and seemingly tranquil and had returned to their original dark brown color.

Glancing from person to person, he suddenly fell onto his hands and knees. Quietly, he said "I'm so sorry... At the time, when I gave into the darkness, it seemed like the only solution…"

Looking up with tears streaming down his face, he glanced to the three figures near him and then back at the group, mainly at Jaden. "But I was wrong. I gave into the darkness to protect those that I love, but instead I only harmed them. It was my fault that you, Jaden, and Seto, suffered."

Casting a weak glance at his wife, he added "And the person that I swore to always protect, the one that is my soul mate, I wronged you the most. I almost… I almost destroyed you, and for that, I can never forgive myself…"

"Illidan, there is nothing to forgive." Marie spoke up while crouching down before him and cupping his cheek softly. "I knew in my heart that the person I've known in this lifetime and our previous one would never truly leave me. Even in death, I will always be with you and you with me. So please, don't blame yourself for what happened. I understood the reason, and like I told you upon ending our duel, I would have remained at your side either way."

Unable to suppress a small gasp of surprise, the sobbing duelist sat back onto his knees and reached forward, embracing his wife tightly. In a mere whisper against her neck, he said "Thank you…"

Releasing one another, the pair stood. Looking at the unconscious figures, Marie calmly said "We should move them to a safer location and rest up for a while. All of us could use it."

Agreeing with the female duelist, each of the group carefully began picking up the unconscious figures and began moving away from the former battlefield.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quietly walking through the vast wasteland before himself, the lone figure with spiked hair that was tri-colored released a heavy sigh.

"This would be much easier if I had a car or a horse." he muttered.

An image in his mind suddenly formed of his former partner riding a horse to a duel, making him crack a sly smile. "_I forgot about that. Yami always did love flashy entrances._"

Continuing to move on, he released yet another loud sigh and began to mutter something when suddenly he felt a surge of energy. Reaching out with his senses to determine where it was coming from, he frowned when he realized it was above him in the sky.

Before he could think of any possibilities, three beams of light, with one being red, another blue, and the last one being green, flashed out of the sky. Without warning, Yugi felt himself being lifted into the air, making him gasp in surprise as he was suddenly flying alongside of the lights.

After flying for nearly thirty minutes, the lights, with Yugi, began descending towards a small stream. Standing near the stream was a group of people, which were all in shock as the three beams of light and Yugi landed before them.

"Yugi!?" Illidan asked in complete shock. "How…"

Rubbing the back of his head, Yugi mumbled "Uh, yeah, it's me. If you're going to ask how I got here, I can't really answer, other than saying these lights picked me up."

"The lights?" Marie asked with a raised eyebrow.

Nodding in reply, the spiked hair duelist pointed to the three lights that were still sitting not far from himself. "Yeah, I was just walking out in the middle of nowhere and suddenly, they swooped down out of the sky and picked me up. Next thing I know, I'm here talking with you guys."

Weakly sitting up from his resting place, the duelist in a white trench coat muttered "It only figures you'd get here in such an odd fashion, Yugi."

About to reply, the spiked hair duelist was interrupted when a deep voice from within the green light spoke up, saying "It seems that all that were destined to come here are together now."

Earning all of the group's attention, the lights flickered for a moment before slowly dispersing and revealing what each light held within them. A brief gasp of shock filled the group as three warriors in full body armor appeared, with each wearing a cape on their back.

The first was in red colored armor, with a black cape on his back and a sword in it's sheath on his left hip. His face looked young and his brown eyes were kind, and a bit of sandy blonde haired peeked out from his helmet.

On the opposite side of the green armored warrior was a blue armored warrior, who had a black cape on his back and a sword strapped to his belt on his backside. Like the other warrior, his face was young with him having blue eyes that seemed somewhat hardened, but a bit soft as well, and brown hair peeking out from under his own helmet.

Between the pair of warriors stood a single green armored warrior who had his own sword on backside and wore a black cape also. A few tufts of blonde bangs peeked from under his helmet, with a long slash like scar covering his right eye, while the other eye was open and revealed a violet color.

"It's the three Legendary Knights of Atlantis…" Yugi mumbled in surprise and shock.

Chiming in, Seto muttered "Hermos, Critius, and Timaeus…"

Nodding to the group, Timaeus spoke up, saying "You are correct, Yugi and Seto. It is good to see the two of you are well."

"I suppose Joey is off slacking somewhere?" Hermos chimed in with a half crooked smile.

"Knowing that chump, more than likely." Seto grunted indignantly. "We left him to help guard Duel Academy back in our own dimension."

Seemingly understanding, the red knight began to speak again, only to be stopped by the green one. "That is not important."

"Why are you here?" Illidan spoke up.

Casting his eye towards Illidan, Timaeus calmly replied "We are here for the same reason all of you are I'm sure. We are here to put a stop to the one known as Lucifer before he completes his goals and destroys everything."

"What do you mean?" Marie asked with concern on her face.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Timaeus finally replied "What Lucifer plans to do is simple. He wishes to revive the Orichalcos Stone and the Great Leviathan."

"The Orichalcos and Leviathan!? Are you serious!?" Illidan demanded.

Frowning, Alexis spoke up, asking "What are the Orichalcos and the Great Leviathan?"

"Only the most dangerous tools ever created." Critius remarked. "The Orichalcos, or more specifically the Orichalcos Stone, is darkness itself. Ten millennia ago, it possessed the king of Atlantis, Dartz, and caused him to attempt to eliminate humanity with a creature known as the Great Leviathan."

"Before he could succeed, we, the former protectors of Atlantis who were turned into dragons long ago, were summoned, along with many other creatures within the realm known as the Dominion of the Beast, to stop the plans that Dartz was pushing forward." Hermos added.

Nodding, Timaeus continued on, saying "The battle was long and hard, and in the end, no victory was given to either side. The Leviathan was defeated, with Atlantis sinking into the ocean. All of the creatures from the Dominion of the Beast were sealed within stone or returned to their realm, along with ourselves."

"Though Dartz was defeated, he attempted to resurrect the Great Leviathan." Yugi commented. "Over the next ten millennia, he gathered souls of people and creatures to fuel the rebirth of that evil creature."

Releasing a light grunt, Seto muttered "About twelve years ago, or so, he had nearly completed his task. All that was needed were the souls of the three Chosen Duelists, who held the power to wield the mighty three Legendary Dragon Cards."

"Those duelists were Seto, Yami, and Joey." Illidan commented. "Each of them received a Legendary Dragon Card. In comparison to the Egyptian God Cards, they were almost every bit equal to them."

Lightly nodding, Yugi added "A clash eventually happened, with the three of us fighting against Dartz and some of his associates. During one of the clashes between Yami and Raphael, I lost my soul so Yami could live on and save the world."

"At the same time, I was leading another group against a man known as Darcia, who was Dartz's second in command. His group sought the power of my Egyptian God Card, Anubis." Illidan spoke up. "In the end, my group defeated all of our pursuers and Darcia also."

Nodding, Seto remarked "Yami and myself, along with Joey, fought our way towards Dartz, only to lose Joey along the way in a battle against Mai. Though he lost, Joey's loss set Mai free from Dartz's control, but she was defeated in an attempt to rescue Joey. Not long after that, Yami, Illidan, and myself waged a battle against Dartz."

"It was a fierce battle." Illidan commented. "During the battle, Dartz used trickery to try and stop us from fighting him, but we overcame it in the end."

"More like I took my chances and smashed all of the Mirror Knights that Dartz was using while you and Yami continued to let your feelings get in the way." Seto smugly pointed out.

Shrugging, Illidan replied "It only proved we had emotions and cared about our friends."

"Enough." Yugi grunted out. "You two can argue about it later."

Nodding in agreement, Illidan continued on, saying "In the end, it was only Yami and myself against Dartz. He tried to convince us to give up, and nearly succeeded, but the two of us overcame it with some help. From there on, we fought harder than ever, with myself summoning Anubis, and Yami summoning the Three Legendary Knights here. Eventually, we beat Dartz, so we thought."

"Not long after that, the remains of Atlantis rose up from the sea." Yugi chimed in. "The four of us, Seto, Illidan, Joey, and myself, well, I guess five since Yami wasn't counted. Anyways, the five us went over to Atlantis. There, we found the Great Leviathan. In an epic battle, we fought against it, only to require help. That came in the form of monsters from the Dominion of the Beast. Still, it wasn't enough till Yami managed to revive the Three Egyptian God Cards."

"With their revival, Yami and myself, along with the four Egyptian Gods, fought against the Great Leviathan. The battle seemed even till Dartz tapped into the energy he had taken from Marie while she was in his grasp." Illidan solemnly remarked. "We nearly lost, till Marie showed up herself and helped us fight with her Tyrant Dragon. She unleashed her hidden power, giving us the edge we needed. With her help, Yami and myself found more power within ourselves and defeated the Great Leviathan."

"Not long after that, Dartz reappeared and attacked Yami and myself." Yugi calmly explained. "Yami managed to defeat Dartz, who was freed from the power of the Orichalcos Stone at long last."

Frowning, Jaden asked "Then what do you guys mean the Orichalcos is being revived?"

Keeping a stony face, the green armored knight replied "Upon the Leviathan's defeat, all those souls that had been captured by Dartz were released. One of those souls was Darcia's."

"Yes, he went and saw Dartz before he went into another realm." Yugi spoke up, earning him the attention of the others. "He told me the story of how he tried to get Dartz to revive the Orichalcos Stone and the Great Leviathan."

Nodding, Critius added "You are correct. In his desperation to revive the Orichalcos Stone, he turned to the Shadows, who struck up a deal with him. For the price of six hundred souls, the Shadows released six powerful souls to aide Darcia. Those six, along with himself, became known as the Fallen Angels."

"The seven of them then began an attempt to revive the Orichalcos Stone." Hermos remarked. "Before releasing the six, Darcia had discovered that using Duel Energy as a substitute for souls yielded more energy. Once he had the Fallen Angels, his group and himself began collecting great amounts of energy."

"And then it happened. Darcia one day realized that one of his group, Lucifer, had far more power than himself. Somewhat afraid of him, Darcia turned over control of the group to Lucifer." Timaeus stated. "From then on, the amount of energy gathered was far more. They soon recruited the demon known as Yubel to their cause, along with the man that possessed Syrus's body, Zell. With their help, the Fallen Angels increased their efforts to reenergize the Orichalcos Stone. Soon enough, they had expanded their operation into the realm that all of you live in."

Slightly frowning, Illidan asked "That's when they came up with the plan to take Arya?"

Nodding in reply, the green armored knight calmly said "That is correct. They knew if your two's daughter was kidnapped, the two of you would come here to rescue her. You see, to successfully resurrect the Orichalcos Stone, they require your two's Duel Energy, along with all the Shadow Powers each of you yield. Other than your wife when she is releasing her hidden strength, you are the strongest person with Shadow Powers left on Earth, Illidan Stormrage."

"So, they knew in order to get me here, they'd need someone or something that I cared about." Illidan mumbled.

Watching her husband clench his hands into tight fists, Marie remained quiet for a moment before asking "Why are the three of you here now?"

"An excellent question." the blue armored knight replied.

Speaking up, the green armored knight said "We have come to lend aide to your group in the only way we can. There is but one Fallen Angel left, and that is Lucifer himself. All of the others are gone forever."

"If you're here to help us, I would have to guess Lucifer is just that strong." Seto commented.

Nodding in reply to the white trench coat wearing duelist, the red armored knight calmly said "You are correct. Lucifer's strength is far greater than anyone any of you have fought before. His power far surpasses even Legato."

"The news just keeps getting better and better." Chazz darkly remarked.

"Ah, come on Chazz, it's surely not that bad." Jaden commented.

Folding his arms over his chest, the duelist in a black trench coat grunted out "Yeah, it's only worse."

"Chazz has a point." Alexis chimed in. "If this guy is that strong, how are we supposed to beat him?"

A small silence filled the group till Illidan finally spoke up, saying "I don't care how powerful he is. He has our daughter, and that's more than enough reason for me to go beat him. I won't stop till he's returned her to us."

"Nor will I." Marie stated.

Nodding in agreement, Yugi spoke up, saying "I will not abandon my goddaughter either."

"I won't forsake her either." Seto spoke up. "Besides, if we don't stop Lucifer now, we may never get another opportunity."

"Yeah, and who knows what he may do after he completes this Orichalcos thingy. He could be a real threat to every dimension." Jaden added in.

Glancing at the others that had yet to speak up, Illidan slowly asked "Are the rest of you willing to help us?"

"I'll most definitely be going." Zane spoke up in a calm voice. "I owe Marie for saving me not once, but twice."

"And I'm not leaving my brother, so I'm going." Syrus piped up.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Jesse finally said "I need to return the favor to Marie as well for helping save me. I'll help."

"We can't just leave this Lucifer here to continue to mess with people's lives." Alexis remarked. "For that reason, I'm going. Plus, I won't leave Jaden behind."

With all but one of the group speaking, the group glanced at the remaining person, who had his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Appearing on the remaining person's shoulder was a yellow bug eyed creature in a pink bikini.

"_Come on boss, you just gotta go with them and help out._"

Lightly growling with annoyance, Chazz smashed his fist into the small creature, making it vanish instantly. "I know, you pest. Alright, I'm coming."

"Then it is settled, we will all go and take the fight to Lucifer." the green armored knight announced.

Frowning, Illidan asked "But where is Lucifer?"

"We will lead you to him." the blue armored knight spoke up.

Nodding, the red knight said "Yes, we will take you to him."

"First though, we must give you something that will be helpful in this fight with your enemy." Timaeus declared. "Yugi, Seto, and Illidan, step forward so we may give you what we speak of."

The three declared duelists each moved forward, looking at the knights with looks of calmness. Moving, the blue knight moved before Seto, with the red knight moving before Illidan, and the green knight shifting to be in front of Yugi. Reaching into their armor, the three knights pulled out what looked like a card each and reached it to the duelist before each of them.

Each of the duelists accepted the card they were presented, with each looking at it and looks of surprise and confusion on their faces.

"This is…" Illidan and Seto began simultaneously, only to have Yugi finish their sentence. "… a Legendary Knight card?"

Looking at the green armored knight, Yugi asked "What is this for?"

"We are giving each of you a card that will allow you to call us into the battle against Lucifer. With our power, your chances of defeating him will grow." Timaeus answered.

Brow furrowing, Illidan asked "But I thought only the Chosen Duelists could wield your power? I know that I am not one, and Yugi is technically not one either since it was Yami that wielded your power last time, Timaeus."

Slightly chuckling, the green armored knight replied "That is true, but this is different from the last time our cards were given out. We are giving each of you our power, in hopes that you will use it to help defeat the darkness that Lucifer plans to use. If we do not stop him now, we never will be capable of it. He will finish what Dartz began ten millennia ago, and plunge this world into darkness and chaos. We cannot allow this to happen, hence we are lending our power to the three of you in hopes that each of you has the ability to help end his ambitions."

Processing the words of the knight, the three duelists remained quiet for a moment before Yugi finally spoke up, saying "I understand. If we do not use your power, we may never get another chance to stop him from reviving the Orichalcos Stone."

"Exactly." Timaeus remarked. "Now is the time to stop Lucifer before he becomes too strong and impossible to stop. You understand what is at stake then?"

"The world…" Illidan began, only to stop and shake his head. "No, not just Earth, but all dimensions are in danger of the rebirth of the Orichalcos. If it is revived, the Great Leviathan can be resurrected as well, meaning the end of everything."

Nodding, the green knight asked "Knowing this, do all of you still plan on defeating Lucifer and stopping the rebirth of the Orichalcos Stone?"

Glancing from one another for a moment, the group finally nodded, with Seto saying "I think I speak for all of us when I say we know, and we will do what is necessary."

"Very well then, we must hurry. Lucifer is waiting for us, I am certain." Timaeus gravely responded.

Spreading out till they surrounded the group, the knights closed their eyes while their bodies began to glow with an aura each. A small circular barrier suddenly formed around the entire group, with the outer edges of it held in by a knight.

"We will take all of you to where he is." Critius spoke up.

"Do remain calm." Hermos added.

In a calm voice, Timaeus said "Now we are off to face Lucifer."

With the green armored knight's words said, the barrier suddenly began to lift off of the ground with the entire group within it. Many were a bit shocked at this, but part of the elder members remained calm. After rising several hundred feet into the air, the barrier containing the group and the three knights on the outside of it began streaking across the sky.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sitting alone in a darkened room with candles on the wall was a dark robed man. Picking up a wine glass that was half full of red wine, the robed figure sipped from it before letting out a contented sigh. Looking at the large table before him, he glanced at the numerous cards he had spread out before himself. Glancing at the image on the far wall of Illidan and his group, that appeared to be in mid-air and coming towards his location, the figure smirked lightly.

"Do you honestly believe that with the help of your friends and those pathetic knights that you will actually prevail over me, Illidan?" he murmured before taking another sip from his cup of wine.

Sneering, he smugly added "You have no idea what will be here, waiting for you..."

Picking up a card that shone in the candlelight, the robed figure smirked at it and then glanced at the other similar ones. "These cards will strike fear into your very soul, Illidan. Death awaits you and your friends, so come at me, if you dare."

Hearing a slight noise near the door that separated the room from the hallway, the figure remained quiet and ignored the sound. Taking another sip from his cup, he recollected the cards and stacked them before setting them before himself.

In a calm voice, he said "You might as well show yourself, Yubel. We both know you're aching to have a try at destroying me."

Walking into the room with anger flashing in her eyes was the female demoness with her wings spread out behind herself. Moving till she was within ten feet of the robed figure, she cast her cold eyes upon the figure. Returning her stare, the robed figure's eyes showed nothing but boredom while he swirled the red liquid around within his glass.

Motioning towards the chair nearest to the female demon, the figure calmly said "Have a seat why don't you? Some wine, perhaps?"

"Keep quiet, you fool!" Yubel hissed while her entire body glowed with a dark orange aura that seemed to flare with her anger. "Your aimless banter will not save you from me, Lucifer."

Remaining calm, Lucifer tauntingly asked "Save myself? If I recall correctly, you were the one who betrayed me, and therefore, you should be the one running away as fast as you can. Save myself, what nonsense!"

Growling with anger at the taunt thrown at her, the female demon watched as the robed figure lifted his glass to take another sip from it. Angered greatly for not having his complete attention, she pointed a clawed finger at the robed figure and released a bolt of black lightning at him, but instead of striking his body, she shot the glass, shattering it into hundreds of tiny pieces and spilling the wine onto his robe.

Irked by her actions, Lucifer dangerously said "Taking away a man's drink right after betraying him and killing four of his subordinates is not a very intelligent thing to do. Here I thought you knew better than that, foolish demon."

"Man?!" Yubel accusingly questioned. "You are no man! You are a pathetic coward who skulks in the shadows, pulling the strings on all of the other Fallen Angels who were nothing more than puppets for your ambitions! But now each and every one of those strings has been cut, meaning you have nothing to hide or defend yourself with."

Standing up, Lucifer picked up his deck and held his arm out, which glowed with a dark black aura. Forming on his left arm instantly was a black Duel Disk that resembled a bat's wing, with two red dots that seemed to form eyes from within the deck slot. Sliding his deck in, he raised his right hand, causing a black sphere to form around the pair.

Within a moment, the sphere receded, revealing they had been transported outside of the compound they had been in. Calmly, the robed figure snapped his fingers, causing the whole area around the pair to begin to grow darker.

"Your mistaken impression that I would put up with your nonsense has finally come back to haunt you, Yubel. The Shadows wait for another soul to feed them, and I believe yours shall do."

Pointing an accusing finger at the robed figure, the demoness coldly replied "If you truly believe that you really have the power to silence me, then come prove it."

Scoffing at the words of the female demon, Lucifer calmly replied "You are simply going to be a warm-up for me before I finish off Illidan and his little group. Once I have, there will be no one left in any dimension with the power required to defeat me. It's all over. Haou is gone, along with Zell. All of the remaining Fallen Angels have been defeated, which is actually a favor to me because you never know when one of them could begin to think rebelliously and become a problem."

"Even when he was plunged in the darkness, Illidan was never a threat. Now that he has returned to his old self, I can snap Illidan like a twig. The likes of Yugi Moto and Seto Kaiba are not even worth my time. Marie on the other hand is one that may present me with trouble, but so long as she remains as she is without the use of her hidden powers, a victory over her will be easy to come by. Once I have finished them all off, I shall have grown stronger by many degrees, and shall move onto fulfilling my own desires within other dimensions."

Growling lowly, Yubel grit out "I'm the fool here!? You are but a jester in the grand scheme of things. The power you seek is nothing compared to what I have found. You do nothing but hide behind the backs of stronger demons and evil men, each one of whom has been crushed to date!"

"Do not question my power!" Lucifer thundered. "You are but a pathetic worm to me, who is frail and easily destroyed if I so wish it. Unfortunately for you, I feel like doing some crushing!"

Holding her own left arm out and transforming it into her own Duel Disk, the female demon coldly declared "Then attempt to crush me, if you have the courage."


	48. Author Note: Apology 2 12 09

Hey all,

Well, to start off, my deepest apologies for not posting this sooner. Unfortunately, both ardee and myself haven't gotten anything done on this story. We are close to posting something, but not quite yet. At any rate, I do apologize for not posting within the last few weeks. It's not fair to you guys by doing that. I promise though, within the next week or so, there will be a chapter, no matter what I have to do, there will be one. So, please bear with me. There will be a chapter in the near future. Also, the end is nearing for this story, with under 10 chapters left. I think more than likely 5-10 chapters are left. At any rate, this story will hopefully be ending before many more months, so bear with me. Thank you, and again, my apologies for not posting this sooner.

~ Illidan the Half Demon


	49. Chapter 47: Blazing Corona, Pt 1

**Hey gang. First off, I'm so sorry for not posting in the last 4 or so weeks. It's kind of my fault I suppose. I should have posted last week, but I didn't find time unfortunately. I truly apologize for this inconvenience to all of you. I will try to not allow this to happen again. I've always prided myself on keeping the updates consistent, but this last inconsistency was just by chance I think. At any rate, my apologies on it.**

**So, not much new in my life. Things are about the same as always here. I'm currently engaged in research at work, and that's about it. It's all good though, for I get to learn interesting things about our system. Other than that, not too much has been happening. I went and saw my mom in Richmond, VA, a few weeks ago for her birthday. My mate and I celebrated our 8****th**** year of being together (dating wise, not marriage) back on the 2****nd****. Other than that, nothing new.**

**Writing wise, ardee and I are working on trying to wrap this story up, but it's just a touch slow at the moment. We'll finish up hopefully before the end of March or April. I'm saying the latest is April. That's my goal, and I plan on sticking with it.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Genma no Ou: True, Yubel is quite insane and obsessive, but one tends to be when loneliness overtakes your life. Yep, quite a bit of foreshadowing in this previous chapter. The words Yubel said are quite open to interpretation, but we'll see what she meant by it before the end I'm sure. Glad you liked all of my revelations and relevant. I tried to make it at the least relevant. I had thought originally about returning the Egyptian Gods, but I dawned on me that they've been over used in my stories, and there was no reason to resurrect them again. So go figure, I decided on the Legendary Knights, hehe. But yes, this series of events will soon come into light. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yep, the duel between Yubel and Lucifer approaches, leaving many questions to be answered. LOL! No way would I reuse Dartz old deck. It was hard enough to understand at times in the show, lol. You never know about Yubel. She's a survivor. It's possible she may pull off an upset victory, but not likely since Lucifer appears much stronger. Heh, yeah, Lucifer is a cool customer, but how cool he'll remain is to be seen. Eh, I think Yugi did have larger decks. Just look at the numerous cards he used in one season, and you'll see that he had to have a deck larger than 40 cards. I don't think he could have had only 40 cards, but I could be wrong. The inverse of that is Jaden though. I'm curious how his deck even worked, seeing how he only had the E-Heros and Neo-Spacians for the most part, with only a few other cards. But then again, I haven't really counted out his cards to see if he even had close to 40 cards. At any rate, I think the decks of Yugi were bigger than he led people to believe, but again, I could be wrong. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. Again, I apologize for being very inconsistent in posting. I shall try to keep posting every week or two from here on, but we'll see how it goes. At any rate, I hope you all like this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 47**

"I shall make the first move, as I am the only worthy presence in this place." Lucifer smugly remarked while drawing his sixth card.

Glancing at his hand, he darkly chuckled and selected two cards from his hand, saying "I set these two cards. That shall do for now." (Lucifer = 8000, Yubel = 8000)

"Pathetic." Yubel darkly muttered while drawing her own sixth card. Taking a look at it for a moment, she slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "I summon my Giant Orc (2200/0)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly in a flash with a massive roar was a large gray orc creature with brown cloth pants and wielding a bone club.

"I equip my Giant Orc with the equip spell Big Bang Shot! This card will boost his attack points by 400 (2200 + 400 = 2600/0) and allows him to deal damage to your life points when your monster is in defense mode, or as most say in slang, Trample Damage. It matters not however, as you were foolish enough not to summon a monster."

Turning a condemning claw towards her opponent, the demoness yelled "Giant Orc, teach him the meaning of pain with a direct attack!"

Releasing a loud roar, the large orc raised his club and began charging forward in a spitting rage. Lucifer, however, remained calm and unfazed by the charging beast and even cracked a small smirk. Angered, the orc swung his club at the robed figure, only to have his club stopped suddenly by a single finger of his target. Infuriated, the orc pressed all of his weight into the club, only to find he couldn't move it.

"That's not possible!" the demoness snarled with confusion on her face.

Chuckling lowly, the robed figure coolly said "As a matter of fact, it is possible thanks to my face down card. I activate the spell Emergency Teleport, which allows me to special summon one level three or lower Psychic Type monster from my deck to the field."

With his words said, the robed figure thrust the club of the orc backwards, sending the orc skidding back a few feet. Pulling his deck out, Lucifer selected the card he desired and revealed it to the demoness before placing it onto his Duel Disk.

"My choice is Krebons (1200/400)."

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area all at once, while green holographic one's and zero's appeared also. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green computer eyes flashed across the black visor that covered the creature's face, while golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the creature's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet of the creature were covered in thin, sock like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

Brow furrowing in confusion, the demoness asked "Psychic Type?"

"Yes, Psychic Type monsters are a unique breed of monsters, just like others such as Toon or Union Types." Lucifer explained. "Now then, since Krebons is on the field, you must choose whether you wish to continue your attack or not."

In a growl, the demoness pointed a defiant finger at the new creature, snarling out "Fine then, since you had the hindsight to place your pathetic creature in attack mode so I wouldn't do so much damage, I'll have Giant Orc crush that thing with Bone Club Smash!"

Releasing a throaty roar, the gray skinned orc charged forward once more and prepared to slam it's club into the strange looking creature. Just as he was about to connect, the creature placed it's hands before it's body, causing a wall of one's and zero's to form before it. The club smashed into the wall, only causing a green light to flicker from the contact. A moment passed till the orc was finally forced to retreat.

Darkly chuckling, Lucifer tauntingly asked "You didn't think I would play Krebons to the field if it didn't have an effect, now did you?"

Receiving a growl of frustration from Yubel, the robed figure smartly said "Whenever Krebons is targeted for an attack, I can give up 800 life points to negate that attack. Since your attack was negated, your little orc's effect doesn't kick in, which would normally force it into defense. So you should actually be thanking me."

"I will destroy you, trust me." Yubel dangerously grit out. "I end my…"

Before the demoness could finish her words, the strange creature before the robed figure let out a pained cry before suddenly shattering into millions of pixels. Seeing the odd look on the face of the demoness, Lucifer coolly said "During the End Phase of the turn that Emergency Teleport is activated, the monster I summoned is removed from play."

Shrugging, the demoness coolly said "Very well, I still end my turn." (Lucifer = 7200, Yubel = 8000)

Drawing his new card, the robed figure smirked, saying "Before I begin your destruction, I'll activate my face down trap, Escape from the Dark Dimension. This trap now allows me to return to my field from the removed from play pile one of my Dark Attribute monsters and equip it with this card. I call back my Krebons (1200/400)."

Rematerializing onto the field instantly was the strange looking orange, blue, and white creature with it's dastardly smirk.

"I next activate the spell Painful Choice. With this card, I am allowed to select five cards from my deck and then I must show them to you. You will get to choose one that is added to my hand, while the rest go off to the Graveyard."

Pulling his deck out, the robed figure sifted through it for a few moments before deciding upon five cards. Placing all five onto his Duel Disk, he smirked while the demoness looked at them with a bewildered expression. The selection of cards consisted of a single monster card and four spell cards.

"The five cards that I have chosen are Envoy of the Void, Sanguine Sanctum, Azure Corona - The First Rift, Face of the Void, and Power Zone. Choose wisely, Yubel." Lucifer smartly remarked.

Looking from card to card, the demoness's expression hardly changed. "_How can I choose a card for him to keep when I've never even heard of any of them!? I have studied every card known in existence, only to find these cards are foreign to me, much like his monster that he has on the field._"

"_Still, there is one thing I can do in this situation, which is to reason out which card I would prefer him to keep._" Yubel wryly thought.

Watching the confused demoness eye each of his five chosen cards, Lucifer darkly chuckled within his mind, mumbling "_Stare at them all you like, Yubel, but you will never figure out what any of them do. I know you will choose my monster, thinking it is the least dangerous for me to keep and that it may have a weakling effect. How wrong you shall be._"

At long last, the demoness pointed at the monster card out of the five cards, saying "I will allow you to keep your Envoy of the Void."

Nodding, Lucifer picked up the five cards and tossed the four spell cards into his Graveyard Slot. Each of the four was slowly sucked in, burying them deep within his Card Graveyard. Placing the remaining card within his hand, giving him a hand size of five, the robed figure lightly chuckled.

"You will regret the choice you have made, Yubel." Lucifer confidently stated. "I summon Envoy of the Void (1200/1000) to my field."

Materializing onto the field in a swirl of light particles was a warrior dressed in full body diamond, if not glass, armor, with only his head uncovered. His skin looked much like an elf's skin, with a pair of pointy ears to match, had blonde hair that reached his shoulders in length. He carried no weapons, appearing to be completely empty handed.

"When Envoy of the Void is Normal Summoned, I can add one spell card with the word 'Corona' in its name to my hand from my Graveyard. I choose Azure Corona- The First Rift."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the robed figure slowly slid out the single spell card that he had said. Picking it up, he added it to his hand and pointed at the two monsters before himself.

"I now activate a Synchro Summon between Krebons and Envoy of the Void, in order to call out Void Templar (2400/2400)!"

Horror and confusion appeared onto the face of Yubel while she screamed out "Hold on a moment! What in the nine hells is a Synchro Summon!? I've never even heard of it!"

"Indeed, you probably haven't." Lucifer remarked. Pointing at his blue and orange creature, he smartly said "Krebons is not only a Psychic Type monster, but also is a new type called a Tuner Type monster. These Types of monsters are new and rather powerful, for they give birth to even greater creatures through Synchro Summoning. By sending a Tuner Type and another Non-Tuner Type with the correct levels to my Graveyard, I'm allowed to Synchro Summon a new type of monster, which will have the type of Synchro."

Without warning, the blue, orange, and white creature began breaking apart and transforming into two bright, spherical stars that began rapidly spinning around the glass armored creature. The glass armored warrior closed it's eyes and suddenly transformed itself into a white sphere of light. The three spheres began forming a triangle that suddenly began expanding and filling the battleground full of brilliant blinding blue light. Slowly, the light died down, revealing a tall, strange creature wearing diamond armor, with splashes of color added by ruby, emerald, and black mixed within the armors coloring. Sparks of energy traveled along the armor, which seemed to change and modify some of the armor's pieces. The creature wore a long black flowing cape on it's back, which floated somewhat due to the wind from when it was summoned. In it's right hand, it held a long, dull white blade, while it's head was covered by a helmet that seemed to change colors like it's armor.

In a clear, calm voice, Lucifer coolly said "Void Templar is a level five Synchro Type monster, which is summoned from my Fusion Deck, or better known as an Extra Deck, by sending a Tuner Type monster and Non-Tuner Type monster from my field to the Graveyard, whose levels added up to five. Since Krebons was level two, and Envoy of the Void was level three, the two were a perfect match to summon Void Templar."

Glaring at the creature, the demoness growled out "It matters little for how you summoned that creature, all that matters is that it's far too weak to battle with my Giant Orc!"

"How naïve you are." Lucifer murmured. "Do you honestly think that attack points are everything in winning a battle? If it is, no wonder you are truly pathetic. You will soon come to understand my power, and what it truly is."

Selecting a card from his hand, the robed figure slid it into one of his empty Spell/Trap Slots and said "I activate the spell Azure Corona – The First Rift."

Appearing onto the field after a moment passed were dark blue stars that formed behind the strange armored creature. The stars began lighting up onto the field, seemingly absorbing all of the light energy present, while darkening the playing field at the same time.

The demoness paid close attention to each of the stars and noted that each had a sphere within them made of energy, seemingly powering them up.

"The First Rift is a continuous spell card, which gains one Spell Counter during my End Phase for each monster I have destroyed during my turn." Lucifer explained. "However, at the moment, I activate Void Templar's effect, which allows me to send one card from my hand to the removed from play pile to add a field spell from my Graveyard to my hand. The choice is simple, since I only have one field spell in my Grave, which is Power Zone, which I immediately activate!"

Placing his card into the removed from play slot, the robed figure patiently awaited the single card that slid out of his Graveyard Slot to land into his hand. Holding his Duel Disk horizontal, he tapped the end of it, causing a slot to shoot out. He immediately slapped the single card he held in his right hand into it, causing the slot to shut immediately. The sky suddenly began morphing into the color of a dark violet color, with raging storm clouds filling sky while lightning began raining down from the clouds. Parts of mountains and the ruins of the area were swept away like nothing. The demoness herself had to duck to miss a horizontal cyclone that had swept across the field.

Pointing at the large gray orc, Lucifer called out "Void Templar, destroy her pathetic orc."

Obeying it's master's request, the armored warrior raced forward towards the club wielding orc, who stood it's ground. Watching this, the warrior let out a roar that sounded more like an echo of anger before the armor the warrior wore began glowing with multiple colors.

"How pathetic that you're destroying your creature." Yubel smugly remarked.

Not receiving an answer, the demoness only watched as her orc struck out at the armored warrior, only to be surprised when the warrior evaded the attack and drove it's sword into the orc's gut. Pulling it out, the warrior leapt into the air and cleaved the gray skinned creature completely in half, causing a massive explosion to follow, leaving the demoness covering her face from the debris.

Seeing the confusion in the eyes of the demoness, Lucifer coolly spoke up, saying "I neglected to mention the effect of Void Templar. You see, he gains 500 attack points for every card removed from play by his effect. Since I had activated it to return Power Zone to my hand, he gained an advantage over your weakling orc (2400 + 500 = 2900/2400)."

"And now for the fun part, my dearest Yubel. You see, when a monster is destroyed in battle while Power Zone is active, the player who lost a monster loses life points equal to their monster's attack points. That means you lose 2600 more life points, Yubel."

Blazing out of the sky and towards the female demon, a bolt of lightning struck the demoness, causing her to howl out loud in pain. She quickly fell to one knee once the lightning subsided, with smoke wisps pouring off of her form.

Darkly chuckling at the state his opponent was in, Lucifer smugly asked "I take it that you felt the pain from that, now didn't you? It matters not though. For now, I set one card and move to my End Phase. At this point, The First Rift gains a Spell Counter."

Glowing to life, one of the dark stars behind the armored warrior came to life with dark energy flowing through it.

"I end my turn." (Lucifer = 7200, Yubel = 5100)

Rising up with a deep throaty growl, the demoness drew a card, only to watch as the dark star behind the warrior glowed to life and released a blast of blue energy. The blast of energy hit her hard, making her cry out in pain once more while she gripped her chest from the new flash of pain.

Darkly chuckling, Lucifer smartly said "During either of our Draw Phases, The First Rift's effect activates. For every Spell Counter it holds, you lose 100 life points. True, it's not much damage this time, but in time, you will come to lose more and more life points. But the punishment isn't over yet, for I activate my trap, Blitz Renewal! Every time you lose life points, I gain an equal amount of life points. It is not too unfair for you though, for it can only be activated when I have a field spell in play, and should that field spell vanish, Blitz Renewal goes with it and I lose 1000 life points."

Watching as Lucifer's life points rose by 100, the demoness let out a small growl before selecting a card within her hand. "Your cheap parlor tricks won't stop me from destroying you, Lucifer! I will crush you in due time, and it begins now by me activating a continuous spell known as Triangle Force! By activating this card, I'm allowed to take two more copies of it from my deck and put them into play."

Pulling her deck out, the demoness searched through it till she found the two desired cards. Placing both within her Spell/Trap Slots, she shuffled her deck back up and slid it into it's slot.

"What use are those cards?" Lucifer questioned.

"They have no other effect." Yubel remarked in a clipped tone. "But they don't need any other, for their purpose is about to be served. I send all three to the Graveyard, allowing me to special summon this, Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000)!"

Bolts of lightning suddenly rained onto the ground, causing dust and debris to go flying throughout the air. At long last, a single large bolt struck, followed by the sound of a massive roar. Rising out of the dust and debris with another mighty roar was a large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. The creature roared loudly, sending out several shockwaves.

Staring at the creature with an unimpressive look, Lucifer asked "So, you have summoned a Legendary Demon?"

Remaining calm, the former leader of the Fallen Angels coolly added "Here I was thinking you wanted to actually relax for a little while. Very well, if it is a true duel you want, then I will give it to you. I think now that you have stopped pulling punches, I will do the same myself."

"The only one punching something will be me." Yubel fiercely remarked. "You see, once I attack, the damage Hamon delivers, coupled with it's effect and your own field spell, shall leave your life points severely crippled. So go forth, Hamon, and crush his pathetic warrior now with Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Releasing a mighty roar once more, the large yellow creature raised it's head up towards the air while yellow lightning began licking the edges of it's lips. Bringing it's head back downwards to cast it's glare upon the glass armored warrior, the dull yellow creature released a stream of yellow energy towards it's intended target.

Smirking at the oncoming attack, Lucifer coolly spoke up, saying "Come now Yubel, did you honestly think I wasn't prepared for such a predictable move? I knew you would summon a Legendary Demon eventually, and I was more than ready to take on such an attack. I activate the effect of the card that I removed from play last turn with the help of Void Templar known as Flash of the Abyss. It's effect can only be activated during the Battle Phase and while it is removed from play. By removing one monster from my Graveyard, it ends the Battle Phase and allows me to move a spell card from my deck to my hand that has the word 'Corona' in it."

Instantly, the armored warrior raced forward and slammed his sword into the yellow beam of lightning coming at himself. The stream was suddenly sent plowing into the ground, causing a small explosion from the impact.

Pulling his deck out, the robed figure thumbed through it till he found the desired card and placed it into his left hand. Shuffling his deck, he returned it to it's slot and smirked evilly at the demoness.

In a mocking tone, the figure asked "Anything else?"

Angered by the figure's tone, the demoness grit out "I end my turn." (Lucifer = 7300, Yubel = 5000)

Drawing his new card, the robed figure smirked when one of the dark stars on his field glowed with a dark blue energy, which was suddenly launched across the field and slammed into the demoness, who let out a strangled cry of pain.

"I begin by activating the continuous spell Twilight Corona – The Second Rift."

Forming on the field next to the dark stars was a gash of darkness. The entire area around it suddenly turned gray for a moment, but it soon was restricted to the space on the field of the robed figure. The gash seemed to have a patch of gray cloth covering it, allowing fluttering wind to blow out from it. It gave off a sinister atmosphere, seemingly making the demoness more wary of it.

"When activated, this card first does damage to my opponent in the form of 600 life points, but thanks to Blitz Renewal, I gain 600 life points. I shall explain it's next effect soon enough. In the meantime, Void Templar, attack Hamon!"

"What foolishness." Yubel muttered while watching her monster prepare to counter attack the charging armored warrior.

Racing towards the yellow creature, the glass armored warrior leapt into the air, only to be caught in a stream of brilliant yellow lightning energy. The stream slowly subsided, only to reveal the armored creature was back on the ground without a scratch on his body.

Before the demoness could protest, Lucifer spoke up, saying "Before you being another one of your irritating interruptions, I shall explain. Right when I attacked, I activated my face down trap card, Heart of the Earthbound! By doubling the damage done to me during battle, I can prevent my monster from being destroyed."

"But all you did was lose life points by attacking when there was no way to succeed against Hamon!" snapped the demoness. "What in the nine hells was the point of that?!"

"The point was so I could activate The Second Rift's effect." Lucifer smoothly declared with a smug smirk on his face. "Twilight Corona gains a number of Spell Counters for each 100 points of Battle Damage I took for when the damage was increased."

Without warning, the strange energy hidden by the shred of cloth began to vibrate with energy, seemingly revealing it was increasing it's power. Suddenly, sparks of light began entering it from all directions.

"Next, I can use the second effect of The First Rift, which can only be utilized if The Second Rift is in play. Whenever monsters on the field lose attack points, the owner of that monster is dealt an equal amount of damage to their life points. So, I use the third effect of The Second Rift, which allows me to remove the twenty-two Spell Counters it has to reduce the attack points of your Lord of Striking Thunder by that same amount times 100, meaning it loses 2200 attack points, while you lose 2200 life points (4000 – 2200 = 1800/4000)!"

The flap on the rift suddenly opened, allowing a bolt of gray energy to be released and strike the large dull gray creature. It howled out in agony while it's strength was seemingly sapped from it's body. The creature wasn't alone in it's pain, for the dark stars released a blast of dark blue energy and struck it's mistress, who released her own scream of pain before falling to one knee and panting heavily.

Smirking at the destruction on the field, Lucifer smartly said "I'm not done yet, for you see, Void Templar has one last effect. It can attack your field so long as you have at least one monster on it. Since all of those effects were activated during the Battle Phase, Void Templar can continue his assault. Now go Templar, destroy Hamon!"

Charging forward on the order from his master, the diamond armored warrior leapt high into the air. Raising it's head to view the oncoming attacker, the dull yellow dragon attempted to growl, only to fail miserably. A moment passed while the warrior came downwards and slashed it's sword through the neck of the yellow creature. The cut was clean and easily cleaved off the head of the massive dragon creature, which exploded instantly and releasing a mighty wind from the explosion.

With a dark smirk on his face, the robed figure quickly said "Thanks to Power Zone, you now receive damage equal to your monster's attack points. That is 1800, in case you forgot."

A streak of lightning suddenly struck the demoness, who released an inhuman scream of pain that was louder than the maniacal laughter of her tormentor. The lightning soon faded away, allowing the smoking demoness to crash face first onto the ground while her body trembled from the bolts of electricity still flowing through her.

"Do you still believe you have a chance of winning, Yubel?" Lucifer cruelly asked while laughing still. "You are nothing compared to me! The sample of power that I have shown you thus far is nothing compared to my true power. You should have remained blind and loyal, for then at least you'd have not suffered so much as you are now. How do you intend on defeating me when I just put down one of your more powerful monsters with mere ease!? I have nothing to fear from you, for you are powerless!"

Slowly moving to her hands and feet, the demoness grit out "Just make your move."

Sneering at the weakened demon, the robed figure shrugged his shoulders, asking "Still thinking you can win with that false hope? It won't do you any good. I set a face down and end my turn." (Lucifer = 9800, Yubel = 300)

Weakly, the demoness stood back up and stretched out her wings, but not before releasing a ragged cough. Drawing her card, she glanced up and felt a pair of dark blue blasts strike her, making her nearly fall back to the ground. Running on pure willpower, the demoness managed to keep from falling to the ground and released a light growl.

"You are almost finished, Yubel. On my next turn, I shall win since you will lose your last 100 life points." Lucifer smugly pointed out.

Releasing a light growl, the demoness fiercely replied "Not likely! I've come too far to lose to a simple human like you! I will destroy you, no matter the cost!"

"Try as you may, it will not happen. Destiny is not on your side, Yubel." Lucifer coolly remarked.

About to shoot back a venomous retort, the demoness stopped. Smirking, Yubel smartly said "I will prove to you that I am superior, and that it is you who shall fall. I set two face down cards and a monster. That ends my move." (Lucifer = 10000, Yubel = 100)

Fingering the top card on his deck, Lucifer snickered, saying "This is the end for you, Yubel. What a shame you didn't last longer."

"I wouldn't count on it!" Yubel fiercely growled back.

Shrugging, the robed figure drew his card and smartly said "The duel is over for you as of right now. My Azure Corona takes the last of your life points."

Glowing to life, the dark star unleashed a blast of dark blue energy at the demoness, who stood her ground. With only a few feet of distance between herself and the incoming blast, the demoness coolly smirked.

"I have come too far to surrender to the likes of you. I activate my trap, The Paths of Destiny!"

Immediately, the blast of dark blue energy was stopped with only a foot of distance between itself and the demoness, who seemed unconcerned. A moment passed before two holographic coins formed on the field before each of the players.

"The Paths of Destiny card is an interesting little trap. We each first flip a coin. The results will determine what happens to each of us. So go ahead, flip away, Lucifer."

Pointing at the stationary coin, the robed figure snapped his fingers, causing the coin to flip up into the air. The demoness did the same, sending both coins flipping. The two coins soon hit the ground, with the demoness's showing heads up, while the robed figure's was tails.

Smirking, the demoness coolly said "Whenever there is a heads up, that player gains 2000 life points. That means my own life points increase, while the inverse happens to you. You see, when you receive a tails, you lose 2000 life points. Too bad, Lucifer."

Both duelists life point counters immediately rose and fell to their new scores, leaving the robed figure with a glare on his face. The glare soon faded as the dark blue energy lurched forward and slammed into the demoness, making her cry out in pain while her life points dropped slightly and the robed figures rose once more.

"No hurt feelings, Yubel." Lucifer smartly commented. "Now then, I activate The Second Rift's final ability. This allows me to send the top three cards on my deck to the removed from play pile, and then add one spell from my Graveyard to my hand, so long as the card doesn't have the word 'Corona' in it's name. I choose Sanguine Sanctum to add to my hand."

Placing the top three cards from his deck into the removed from play slot, the robed figure slowly watched a spell card slide out of his Graveyard Slot. Picking it up, he turned it towards the demoness, saying "I immediately activate it, which allows me to add one spell card with 'Corona' in it's name from my deck to my hand."

"_His entire deck is about finding and recycling cards._" the demoness growled within her mind. "_All these Corona cards seem to do is continuously deal me damage, but there must be a higher purpose to them. It's unlikely that Lucifer would think these cheap parlor tricks would defeat the likes of myself or even Illidan Stormrage._"

Broken out of her thoughts, the demoness heard Lucifer smartly say "I select the spell from my deck known as Abyss Corona – The Third Rift and activate it immediately."

Immediately, the air and limited light on the field suddenly began to warp as a color of crimson and deep blue flashed onto the field, with the coloring slowly fading into the latter of the two. Slowly, the warp contracted and formed into a simple blinking star of red light, seemingly joining the blue and gray ones.

"This card can only be activated when I have The First and Second Rifts in play. During each one of my End Phases, it gains one Rift Counter. When it has three Rift Counters, I can add one specific spell card from my deck to my hand. Luckily for you, The Third Rift has no other effects. But it matters not, for when this one effect comes to about, your chances of victory will be completely gone. Of course, that's assuming you survive much longer."

Pointing a finger at the horizontal monster card, the robed figure sharply said "Void Templar, crush her pathetic monster."

Charging forward with his diamond armor glowing multiple colors, the warrior drew his sword above his head and slammed it hard into the horizontal card image. The image shattered after a moment, revealing a strange green plant looking monster that appeared mostly human with pink petals for hair that stuck up and was sitting on a lily pad. A moment passed and the creature shattered and vanished from the field.

"Congratulations in destroying my Samsara Lotus (0/0)." Yubel smugly remarked. "It had zero attack points, so I lose no life points for the effect of your Power Zone."

Releasing a small chuckle, the robed figure shrugged, saying "A small sign of confidence, but it is all that you have, Yubel. Now then, the effect of The First Rift activates, which gains another Spell Counter. And at that, I end my turn." (Lucifer = 8200, Yubel = 1900)

Drawing a card, the demoness could hardly suppress herself from crying out when a blast of dark blue energy struck her. Forcing herself to move on, she turned the card she had drawn to her opponent, saying "I begin by activating the spell Pot of Greed. Thanks to this, I draw two more cards."

Snapping off two new cards, the demoness smirked evilly. "I activate the spell Fiend's Sanctuary, which allows me to special summon one Metal Fiend Token (0/0) to my field."

Materializing onto the field before the demoness was a small silver creature made up of several round metal sections. It had pointed hands and a pointed tail, and a simple round head.

Pointing at her face down card, Yubel smartly said "I activate my trap card, Call of the Haunted, which allows me to bring back Samsara Lotus (0/0) to my field."

Immediately, the small human like flower creature reappeared onto the field. It gave a quick glance at the silver creature beside itself before returning it's full attention back ahead of itself.

"What a pointless move." Lucifer grunted out. "Why bother summoning those two weaklings?"

"You would dare not say such things to me if you had any idea on what I was about to unleash upon you!" Yubel snapped angrily, with her eyes flashing dangerously. "I sacrifice both my Metal Fiend Token and Samsara Lotus in order to summon my ultimate creature! This monster goes beyond the power of Armitael itself! I summon forth my avatar, Yubel (0/0)!"

Rolling his eyes while the two creatures before the demoness vanished, Lucifer smartly said "How overly theatrical, but ineffective."

Glowing lightly, the demoness's body suddenly split into two, with a fully identical version of the demoness appearing while moving forward onto the playing field. The new demoness smirked evilly while releasing a small dark chuckle.

"And now for a little more fun, for I activate the equip spell Complete Defeat, and equip it to Yubel. This spell only works on a monster with zero attack points, in which Yubel obviously has that qualification. When she battles with another monster, the other monster will be destroyed at the end of the Damage Step."

Releasing a dark chuckle, the original demoness smugly said "You are very unfortunate to have to face the wrath of one of the most powerful monsters in the game."

"The supposed power of your creature doesn't appear to transition into attack points." the robed figure studiously remarked.

Smirking darkly, the demoness smugly replied "It's effect more than makes up for it's lack of attack points. Now then, it's time we battled. Come Void Templar, try and destroy my avatar."

Frowning at the words of the demoness, the robed figure suddenly noted that the demoness's double's eye on her forehead was glowing bright orange. At that moment, the eyes of the armored warrior glowed to life also. Trembling slightly, the diamond armored warrior charged forward with his sword ready to strike. He was only a few feet away from the demoness when a spiraling barrier of thick thorn covered vines appeared. The warrior's sword struck the barrier, only to have the top of the vine race towards the robed figure and encircle him and strike him with it's numerous thorns, causing him to scream out in pain.

"As you may have noticed, Yubel was not destroyed in that battle." the demoness commented. "Also, any Battle Damage that would be incurred to me is reduced to zero. As well, when she attacks or is attacked, your monster's attack points are inflicted to your life points as direct damage."

Sneering, the demoness added "By the way, the effect of Complete Defeat is about to activate. Your monster will be destroyed like it would normally in battle. Due to that, your field spell, Power Zone, will now take away another 2900 of your life points."

Without warning, the diamond armored warrior shattered, causing a bolt of lightning to flash out of the sky and strike the robed figure, making him cry out in pain for the second time in the duel and causing him to fall to one knee.

"Where is your arrogance and confidence now, fool?!" Yubel smugly questioned. "Did you think you could put me down so easily? You are the one that has no hope here!"

Standing, Lucifer spoke in a deathly cold voice, seemingly void of the playfulness that had been in it earlier in the duel. "Believe what you want, but this duel was over the moment you accepted. Dark World belongs to me, Yubel, and you will be crushed by the wrath of this powerful deck!"


	50. Chapter 48: Blazing Corona, Pt 2

**Hey gang! First off, I truly apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I expected to post a chapter two weeks ago, but unfortunately, it didn't pan out. The chapter was ready one day last week, but I completely forgot I had it done, thus it didn't get pushed out. My fault there, so I apologize for that. However, there is good news at the least. The next two chapters following this one are nearly completed, plus they are longer also, so no worries about me not having any chapters. I'm looking to probably wrap this story up in April, at latest. I had hoped to finish this month, but it's looking like it'll be April now, but oh well, it can't be helped. For now, I think I will post once a week, but that's questionable. It may get shoved back to every two weeks, but we'll see. As of right now, I intend to post a chapter next week, no matter what, then another one the following week. We'll see how that goes though.**

**Life wise, things are just busy. Meh, and irritating. It don't help that my dad is sulking over me not coming out to help him work on his farm. My step mother has tried to explain to him that I have a life of my own, but he doesn't apparently buy that. (/sighs\) Sometimes, I just wonder if he realizes that there is more to life than working yourself to death. You know, like spending time with your family, helping others, etc. That's how my life goes. I'm so spread out that I just have trouble finding time to help him, but I suppose that will change. (/sighs once more\)**

**Anyways, moving along, time for reviews!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: Thanks for your review! I really appreciate it when people review. Glad you liked reading through this series of stories. Hopefully, you'll like the ending. True, Yubel has some powerful monsters, but Lucifer seems to be hanging on with his Psychic monsters. Cool that you're about to start a story. Good luck with it! And once more, thank you for your review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Lol, yeah, it was about time. Yes, Lucifer's deck is quite strange, but it'll grow stranger, trust me. Lol, I think all of us are confused about Lucifer's deck. Even I am. Ardee actually wrote this duel, so I had to work with him to figure out what the heck the cards did in it. Still, it looks rather good. True, Lucifer's cards are hard to envision. I found that out when I began putting more description in. They're just hard to see when they aren't real cards. But I could get a bit of an idea, I mean, rifts aren't too hard to conceptualize. Yes, you are correct, there are no actual cards like this in the game, as of right now that I know of. Eh, I'm not honestly sure what Ardee based it off of, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yes, Lucifer's deck is quite surprising, and seems different from any other deck ever made. Glad you are liking the duel. Thanks for the review!**

**Genma no Ou: Well, this deck isn't actually one of my designs. This is all Ardee's original concepts, with exceptions here a few exceptions here and there, like Yubel's equip spell. Yes, it is quite a combo of cards that Lucifer has. True, Yubel is hanging on, but barely it seems. Heh, yeah, I kept her true to the anime effects since just letting someone attack her seemed pointless. Glad you liked the chapter. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one also. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I truly appreciated all of them. I am sorry about the long wait between chapters, but things came up and the chapter just didn't get worked on. Sorry about that. I always strive to be consistently updating with my stories, but I have failed a bit in this one. For that, I apologize for it, but I can only promise to continue and try to do better with it.**

**At any rate, I need to wrap this up. I hope all of you like this chapter, for things will be interesting, I guarantee you that. Thanks for the reviews once more, and without further ado, enjoy!**

**Chapter 48**

Staring at the man before her, the demoness saw anger and hatred within his eyes unlike any other time she had seen him. To say the man facing off with her was furious was an understatement.

"You made a serious mistake by defying me, foolish demon." Lucifer coldly remarked with a sneer. "The power I command is so great that even you cannot even hope to comprehend it! Do you think just any man would be able to control a group of beings as powerful as the Fallen Angels without holding some sway over them in terms of power!? I could destroy that entire compound right now with merely a _thought_. Even the most powerful mages of Egypt, going further back than the day of the former Pharaoh Yami would be hard pressed to defeat my power. I will soon enough prove to you why you should never have faced off with me."

Feeling a chill of fear rise up her spine from the tone of her opponent, the demoness took an involuntary step backwards, but stopped herself. Steeling her emotions, she smirked, saying "You don't frighten me. At any rate, I move to my End Phase, in which Yubel's effect activates. I must now sacrifice a monster or she is destroyed and sent to my Graveyard. But the catch is, my Samsara Lotus's effect activates at the same time, allowing me to revive it to my field in defense (0/0)."

Reappearing onto the field in a quick flash was the small flower creature.

"Now that she is back, I can sacrifice her to Yubel, thus keeping her on the field."

Glowing with a light orange aura, the flower creature vanished from the field while the demoness on the field coldly smirked.

"I end my turn." (Lucifer = 2700, Yubel = 1600)

Snapping off a card, the robed duelist smirked as the demoness was struck by a blast of dark energy. In a cold tone, Lucifer firmly said "I summon Void Mercenary (1900/200) to the field in attack mode!"

Forming onto the field instantly was a warrior clad in black armor that was so pitch black that it seemed to suck in the very light from around it. A crimson cross covered it's chest and shield ended in triangular tips on all ends was in his left hand. Finally, there appeared a sword at his waist that was obsidian in looks, though it was also obvious that it would not be brittle like the black volcanic glass. The creature rode upon a horse that was just as black, with it's size and shape adding to its intimidation factor.

"Mercenary's effect now activates, which grants him an additional 1000 attack points when I have two or more cards on the field with the name 'Corona' in it (1900 + 1000 = 2900/200)."

Sneering at the creature, Yubel smugly remarked "Bah! Yubel will destroy him with ease!"

"Not quite." Lucifer hissed. "When Void Mercenary is summoned, I can automatically remove one monster on your field from play, at the cost of not attacking."

Eyes widening instantly, the demoness growled within her mind "_Remove a monster from play?! But that means I will be unable to summon the Terror Incarnate…_"

The horseman's roar immediately broke the demoness out of her thoughts as he raised his sword. The horse instantly began galloping forward, while the demoness on the field cast a glare at the incoming monster. Vines sprang up out of the ground, looping around the horse's legs, threatening to pull it and it's rider down into the darkness, but the rider slashed at them easily before continuing forward with his blade raised. The blade easily carved through the female demon's neck, severing its head from its body, but not before releasing an inhuman screech. The carcass slowly faded into nothingness, as the vines retreated.

Clenching her hands tightly, the demoness firmly snarled "Do you think that is all I have to combat you!? Believe me, you fool, you have far more to contend with!"

"If you can even reach that stage." Lucifer commented. "Right now, I end my turn, meaning Abyss Corona gains another counter. That is all." (Lucifer = 3000, Yubel = 1300)

Drawing a new card, the demoness grunted out in pain and fell to one knee as a blast of black energy slammed into her hard. She was lightly panting, but slowly stood back up with determination on her face.

"I never ended up having to use these cards against anyone, for I thought that the Legendary Demons and Yubel would suffice. But now, you will wish you had instead fallen to them, for these beings will cause you greater pain than she ever could have! I play Painful Choice!"

Pulling her deck out, Yubel searched through it till she found five cards she desired to show. Placing them onto her Duel Disk, card holograms immediately appeared onto the field, giving a view to the robed duelist of what they were.

"I select these five cards: my three Shining Angels, Airknight Parshath, and Ultimate Obedient Fiend. Now choose, if you dare!"

Eying the five cards, Lucifer murmured "Hmm… It seems you want to get at least three Light Fairy Type monsters into your Graveyard. It's not like I can stop you from doing so, so go ahead and keep Ultimate Obedient Fiend, for it is easily the most useless of the lot."

Picking up the five cards, the demoness placed the selected card into her left hand while she placed the other four into her Graveyard Slot. With the cards safely in her Graveyard, Yubel smugly said "Fool! By removing a Dark Fiend Type and three Light Fairy Types from my Graveyard, I can call upon the successor of the Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning… I banish my three Shining Angels and Giant Orc, so arise Sky Scourge Enrise (2400/1500)!"

A violet-shaded black hole appeared on the field, shrinking in size, revealing a being from within it. It had long, almost crescent shaped wings, with the inside halves being black, and the outside halves being white. The being's upper arms were covered in some black leather material, with its forearms being white skinned and bare. The hands were covered in dark black leather gloves. Slowly, the black hole sank low enough to only cover the lower upper body of the being, allowing the skin of the creature's upper body to be revealed and having white skin. Gadget like designs, with circles at the center of them, were tattooed at the tops of the creature's arms, with black lined designs being near its neck on each side. The creature wore dark black leather pants with belt straps wrapped around it's waist and each kneecap. The being's face had a maligning leer, with its thick, dead white hair flowing behind it.

"An intriguing monster…" Lucifer commented. "What does it do?"

In a snarl, the demoness grit out "It will kill you! Once during my turn, I can allow him to remove a face up monster on your side of the field from play. This comes at a cost of his attack, but well worth it, wouldn't you agree?"

Not receiving an answer, the demoness barked out "Eliminate his Void Mercenary!"

The strange white and black creature instantly complied with the request, causing a dark hole in the middle of the creature's chest to begin inhaling everything before it. The creature aimed it towards the horseman, causing the horse and it's rider to begin sliding towards the black and white creature. The horse struggled to keep it's footing, but to no avail. In a flash, the pair were sucked into the abyss, vanishing forever.

"A powerful monster." the robed duelist commented. Smirking slightly, he added "But in the end, it doesn't matter _what_ you play."

Gnashing her teeth, Yubel snarled out "I end my turn." (Lucifer = 3300, Yubel = 1300)

Silently picking up a card, the robed figure watched a blast of black energy slam into the demoness, making her cringe from the pain. Playing the drawn card, he calmly said "I activate the spell Joint Charity. This allows both of us to draw three cards from our deck, but we must discard any monsters we draw, or any in our hand for that matter."

Both duelists picked up three cards, with the demoness tossing out two of the cards she drew, along with one in her hand. Placing the other card into her clawed left hand, she watched the robed duelist reveal he held no monsters in the cards he drew or in his hand.

"I set one card and end my turn, thus activating Abyss Corona's effect, giving it a third Spell Counter. Your end is nigh." (Lucifer = 3600, Yubel = 1000)

Picking up a card, the demoness cried out in agony as another blast of black energy slammed into her, knocking her to one knee once more. Growling deeply, she forced herself up and turned furious eyes towards the robed duelist.

Glancing at her new card, she quickly placed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, snarling out "I activate Graceful Charity! This spell allows me to draw three new cards, but I must toss out two cards when I'm done!"

Angrily snapping off three new cards, the demoness eyed them before placing two into her Graveyard Slot and then saying "I remove from play three of my Dark Fiend Type monsters and a single Light Fairy Type monster in order to summon Sky Scourge Norleras (2400/1500)!"

Streams of light and darkness suddenly shot out in all directions from the ground and began blending together in order to form a malicious looking body. The light and darkness vanished, leaving the being's demon like appearance that was bulgy and black, with bandages wrapped around it's upper body and forearms. It had skeleton hands and the head of a skeleton, with two gray zigzag horns sticking through the top of it's head. Two pitch black wings were on the back of the creature, resembling almost gargoyle like wings. It grasped unknown twilight colored energies in each of it's hands.

"It's effect allows me to pay 1000 life points to send all cards on the field and in our hands to the graveyard, and then we each draw one card. Since I do not have the life points, nor wish to take the risk of allowing you to attack me with a monster you draw next turn, I will end this duel conventionally instead. Norleras, Enrise, destroy Lucifer now!"

Both demonic beasts immediately raised their hands and fired out spheres of black energy at the leader of the Fallen Angels.

Sneering, the robed duelist smugly said "You waste your time. I reveal my trap, Torrential Tribute! All monsters on both fields are now destroyed."

The demoness could hardly suppress a gasp of shock as suddenly a wave of water crashed down upon her creatures, smashing both of her demon creatures. Slowly, the water receded, revealing an empty field before the demoness.

"Fine, I have no choice but to special summon my Grinder Golem (3000/300)!" the enflamed demoness snarled.

Instantly, a large, heavy metallic behemoth of a creature with a buzz saw blade for a head and spikes all over its body, chains flinging from it's form, and a clamp like left hand while the right had four sharp claws formed onto the field before the robed duelist in a kneeling position.

"Why is it on my side of the field?" Lucifer questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Darkly chuckling, Yubel replied "Grinder Golem's special ability. You see, when I choose to play it, it is special summoned to your field. As a consolations prize, I get two Grinder Tokens (0/0) on my field, which I place in defense mode."

Forming before the demoness in a flash were two smaller versions of the large metal creature, each in kneeling positions.

"I now sacrifice one to summon Dark Summons God (0/0)!"

One of the two buzz saw headed creatures vanished from the field immediately, being replaced by a strange looking creature that had large red wings with grey in them, a red kilt wrapped around it's waist that stretched to the ground, a mostly dull black looking skin, long arms, a strange head with a pair of horns that stretched up and down, and a pair of thick shoulder pads.

"I activate this creature's special ability, allowing me to sacrifice my Dark Summons God, so be gone and return my three Sacred Beasts: Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (4000/4000); Raviel, Lord of Phantasm (4000/4000); and Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (0/0) in defense mode!"

Slowly, the dull black creature disintegrated, but immediately upon his disappearance, the ground began shaking, lightning flashing brilliantly, and a tower of flames came shooting out of the ground.

The first creature to arise was a large dull yellow creature with massive thin skinned wings, thin arms with large clawed tips on it's hands, red glowing eyes, two large horns and a chin like horn on it's head, a long powerful tail, and sharp claws and fangs. The creature roared loudly, sending out several shockwaves.

Rising up from the ground was a thick purple fog, which seemed to be forming a cloud. Through the cloud came two massive blue wings with thin see-through skin, large blue horns at the top, and powerful sharp talon like claws attached to purple hands came out of the darkness. Slowly, the cloud diminished, and the rest of the creature came into view. It's body consisted of purple and light blue. It had massive chiseled out abs, muscular arms and legs, and finally a strong head with a strange crown like set of horns. The creature let out a massive roar, making the very ground shake.

The final creature soon began to appear from within the tower of flames. Out of the flames came a set of large red wings that had thin skin covering them that appeared to be attached to arms. Slowly, a red snake like body with a grey underbelly appeared from the flames that had many scales. The head of the monster had many spikes, and it had a massive set of sharp teeth. It let out a loud roar, making the ground shake from the power of it.

"All three?" Lucifer asked in a mildly impressed voice. Smirking, he added "Don't forget they can't attack this turn. Not that it matters… If their attacks are a few thousand times stronger, I may feel them."

"You talk too much, has anyone told you that?" Yubel ground out. "I end my turn. There is no hope for you in this duel now." (Lucifer = 3900, Yubel = 700)

Drawing a card deliberately slowly, the robed duelist smirked as a blast of black energy slammed into the demoness, causing her to cry out in pain. Instead of falling to one knee, it took all of her energy to remain standing and sneer.

"IS THAT THE BEST YOU HAVE!?"

Smirking, Lucifer coolly replied "Not at all. First, I activate the effect of Abyss Corona. By removing all three Spell Counters, I can add one spell card from my deck to my hand."

Pulling his deck out, the robed duelist searched through it till he found the card he desired to have. Returning his deck to it's slot, he turned the card towards the demoness and sneered.

"This is the end for you, Yubel. I activate the spell Bonds of the Universe!"

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The trio of knights, along with the duelists within the sphere that the knights were carrying, all saw from their vantage point a single blinding flash spread out in all directions.

"What the-…" Illidan began, only being forced to cover his eyes.

The light was brighter than anything any of the group had ever seen. Marie put an arm on her husband's shoulder, while covering her own eyes at the same time. None of the group could bear to look, while the three knights remained transfixed. The sphere of energy that was moving the group suddenly paused in midair.

"Could it be…" Timaeus murmured. "The last time this kind of power was released… We are possibly the only three beings still alive who witnessed it."

In a snarl, Critius ground out "Lucifer will pay in blood! His charade has gone on for far too long, and if he has indeed chosen to relegate his fate to this dark force, he will pay dearly for it."

"Wait!" Hermos cautioned. "If he has indeed done the unthinkable and is using that power, then we would do better to revise our position. Not even our power would be able to overcome this…"

"We have to try." Illidan interrupted through grit teeth. "I have no idea what this power is that you think Lucifer has, but giving up is not an option right now. It's now or never, for if he resurrects the Great Leviathan, he will be able to feed it enough power to make it stronger then even Anubis, God of Life and Death _ever_ was!"

"Agreed, plus, I am going _nowhere_ until we find my daughter." Marie chimed in.

Sighing heavily, the green armored knight muttered "Very well, but just know that this will not be easy."

With his words said, the green knight urged the other knights onwards, pulling the sphere between them.

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It took the group barely five minutes to reach the source of the light. The entire area was covered in the darkness of a Shadow Game. Deep within it, the three knights and the group of duelists could see the vague outlines of a tall, standing figure who wore a hood, with a huge, demonic form in front of him, while across from him was a feminine silhouette who had fallen to her knees, with a trio of large forms in front of her. The standing figure raised a finger, and the beast before him reacted by expelling a wave of energy that was barely visible through the darkness.

It seemed to be directed at the middle creature of the feminine duelist, but instead slammed into all three, shattering them all at once. It continued on and hit their mistress, who was blasted off her knees and onto her back. The slow trickle of her life points coming down to zero could be heard by the other duelists. A sense of dread began to fill their minds as the darkness started clearing.

In a cool, calm voice, the seemingly winner of the duel said "Ah, Illidan and Marie. It seems you've brought your little squad of friends with you. Charming."

Ears twitching at the sound of the voice, Illidan mentally murmured "_That voice… Where have I heard it before? It sounds familiar, but where from?_"

"I was beginning to wonder when and if the two of you and your pathetic group would arrive." the shadowy figure continued while still facing away from the group. "Such bad parents you two are, allowing me to keep their daughter for so long. I should charge you overtime for holding onto the whelp."

Furious at the owner of the voice, Marie angrily roared "GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER, YOU LUNATIC, OR I WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"

"Charming as ever, I see." the figure commented while the creatures on the field slowly vanished, leaving only the feminine duelist behind. With the darkness cleared, it was revealed to be the demoness that had helped in the kidnapping of the child, who was releasing a pain filled moan.

"Arya is comfortable here, even though her crying tantrums have been a tad bit annoying and rather irritating, to say the least. But considering how much you owe me, Illidan, you should be thankful she is even in one piece."

Taking a step forward, Marie prepared to attack the robed figure who was staring at the fallen demoness, only to be stopped by a hand being placed on her shoulder by her husband.

"_It can't be_…" Illidan mentally mumbled with wide eyes.

A cloud of darkness suddenly appeared within the hands of the robed figure, only to slowly be revealed to be a blanket with a small female child in it, who was wailing loudly.

"You sick, demented freak!" Seto roared. "Return the child now so I can have my Blue-Eyes tear you to pieces!"

"I can't believe that a person like you could be so evil!" Jaden ground out.

"Oh, I can." Illidan coldly remarked while clenching his right hand till his knuckles were white. Each of the group cast a look at the brown haired duelist, seemingly confused.

Lightly chuckling, the voice of the robed figure coolly said "So, you finally caught on. I take it you've recovered from hearing this voice, eh Illidan?"

Seemingly seething with anger while clenching his right hand tightly, Illidan ground out in a tight tone "Yours is a voice I'd give up everything to forget… _Gozaburo Kaiba_."

All at once, all but the younger duelists, the group tensed upon hearing the words that Illidan had spoken. Each looked the robed figure over, seemingly trying to prove the brown haired duelist's claim.

"Good ear." the cool voice remarked of the robed duelist. Reaching up with a free hand, he pushed the hood of his robes back, revealing gray hair that was short, a mustache, and cold light brown eyes.

"It is him…" Marie mumbled with shock on her face.

"Surprised is not the word that would fit this situation, eh?" Gozaburo taunted. "I suppose all of you are curious how I defied death itself and returned to this world."

"I have a better idea, you return our daughter and I won't have to put you back in the grave." Illidan coldly stated while moving away from his wife and towards the robed figure in smooth strides.

Sneering, the robed figure countered, asking "Why should I do so? Do you honestly think you can defeat me with a pitiful power like you have?"

Not receiving a response, Gozaburo continued on, saying "When you had the power of darkness coursing through your veins, you may have stood a bit of a chance. Your power, along with Marie's fully awakened power, may have been able to defeat me, but you have since given up on that power, and Marie is incapable of controlling her hidden strength, just like in the past."

Watching Illidan inch forward, the robed figure held out his left hand, causing a sphere of black energy to suddenly form within it. "Ah, ah, ah, I wouldn't come any closer Illidan, or else your daughter will be nothing more than a smear."

Hiding his eyes beneath the shadow of his bangs, Illidan came to a stop and in a firm voice said "You wanted me here in this forsaken dimension, so here I am. I ask that you in turn give Arya back to Marie. Whatever it is you want with me, do what you want, but release Arya and the others."

"Oh I'll take what I want from you in due time, don't you worry." the robed figure stated.

Raising his eyes to be revealed, the brown haired duelist fiercely yelled "Let her go! You got what you wanted! You have me, so just release Arya to Marie, and send them, along with the others, back to their dimension! What more could you possibly want!?"

"Everything." Gozaburo simply remarked.

About to respond, the brown haired duelist heard a strangled cry of pain. Glancing over, he noted it was the female demon, who was beginning to glow with a dark black aura. Noting where the brown haired duelist's attention was, the robed figure smirked.

"She will soon be gone. You should thank me, Illidan, for she was one of the two who kidnapped your daughter. It was her and Zell that took sweet little Arya from you."

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Illidan saw Jaden rushing to the demoness on the ground. He quickly went to one knee and softly asked "Yubel?"

Seemingly in pain while looking up at the young man, the demoness sadly smiled and whimpered out "Jaden… I'm sorry that I won't be able to protect you…"

"Protect me? From what?" Jaden asked in confusion.

Sadly smiling, Yubel reached out for his hand, which Jaden hesitated to do, but finally gave it to her. Holding his hand, she began revealing images to him.

Looking about in the images, the young duelist saw an elder man standing with a young dark purple haired boy. The two were conversing back and forth, till finally the elder man said "My son, he carries the spirit of the Supreme King. He is but a vessel for Haou, but one day, the universe will need him. Until then, his spirit must be protected. Do you understand, Yubel?"

"I do sir, and I ask that you allow me to become the one who protects him." the young boy responded with fierce determination reflecting in his eyes.

Gasping lightly, Jaden mentally murmured "_So, that was Yubel?_"

The images flickered for a moment, revealing the young boy in a chamber, strapped down to a table and blindfolded while three people surrounded the table. An elderly witch looking woman calmly said "You have chosen to be the protector of the Supreme King's spirit, thus you shall be equipped with the armor of the dragon. This will be painful, but once we have finished, nothing shall be able to harm you ever again and you shall be able to protect the Supreme King's spirit forever."

"Just get on with it." the young boy firmly replied, only to wince in pain as the three people began operating, causing Jaden to look away.

A moment passed and a door in the back of the chamber opened, revealing a young man dressed in royal clothing. Seeing him, Jaden could hardly suppress a gasp of shock while his eyes widened.

"_That's… That's me!_"

Once more, the images flickered, revealing the sun setting with the young man and the demoness he had just allowed to hold his hand once more. The two were sitting on a smooth pillar, with the young man looking upset.

"Why, why did you do it?" the young man questions.

Sadly smiling, the demoness quietly replied "I did this so I could protect you. I will always be with you and protect you, no matter what comes."

Sniffling, the young man whimpered out "But it's not fair for you. You were my friend. I will make it up to you. I promise to never forget you and to always keep you by my side."

Hearing the words of the young man, Jaden slid his eyes shut. In his mind, he heard the voice of the demoness quietly say "_Jaden, that promise I made you long ago, I have strived to keep to it. Nothing has ever stopped me from trying to protect you, not even when you abandoned me and sent me away._"

"_That's why... That's why you attacked Jesse and the others?_" the young duelist asked while staring at the demoness in his mind.

Sadly smiling, Yubel nodded. Clenching his hands, Jaden replied "_Yubel, I understand now why you did what you did. You started out with good intentions, but over time, you lost your way. But I promise, I will help you find your way again._"

Leaving his mind, the young man sadly smiled at the demoness. She weakly smiled back, murmuring "I'm afraid I can't keep my promise any longer, nor can you. I tried to protect you by destroying Lucifer, but failed. I am truly sorry for breaking my promise."

"It's not over, Yubel." Jaden quietly replied. "I realize how much you wish to protect me, and that I made a promise to you that means so much to me even now. That's why I won't allow you to die here in this place."

Looking at the young duelist with unsure eyes, the demoness began to ask what he planned, only to feel him reach out and placing both hands onto her shoulders. Sadly smiling, he whispered "You protected me throughout the years Yubel, and for that I am grateful. That is why I am going to grant your one wish, which is to always protect the Supreme King. I'm going to merge you in with my spirit, so you can always be with me."

"But what will become of you!?" Yubel protested.

Feigning a smile, Jaden replied "I'm not really sure, but there is only one way to find out."

With his words ending, the young duelist's palms began glowing with black energy, which immediately began swirling around the demoness and the young duelist. The pair were engulfed within the energy, vanishing completely from view.

"Jaden!" Alexis cried out and began to run to the swirling energy, only to be held back by gentle arms around her waist. Looking over her shoulder, she saw it was Zane, who was shaking his head.

"He made his choice, Alexis. We have to respect it."

Feeling tears sliding down her face, the young blonde haired woman whimpered "But I love him."

"I know, and I'm sure this decision wasn't made lightly. Trust him, Alexis." Zane whispered.

Staring at the swirling black energy, the group didn't have long to wait till the swirling slowed and dissipated. Walking out of it with his eyes closed was the young duelist, who had changed a bit. He was slightly taller, with brown hair that appeared to have lengthened also, and his features seemed more chiseled. Opening his eyes slowly, he revealed chocolate orbs. Without warning, the two brown eyes glowed for a moment and changed, with the right one becoming dark orange, almost golden, in color and the left being green. The two eyes glowed for a moment before fading back to their original brown color.

"The Guardian and the Supreme King are now one." Jaden announced, with his voice sounding a bit aged. Turning and pointing an accusing finger at the robed figure, he firmly added "You will pay for what you have done, Gozaburo. The darkness you wish to awaken will not be allowed to awaken. No matter what, I will use all of the power of the Supreme King and Yubel to defeat you!"

"Dream on, kid." Gozaburo grunted. "Even with their combined power, you cannot defeat me."

"We'll just have to find out, won't we!?" Jaden stated.

Before the young duelist could move, he saw the brown haired duelist move before him with his arms spread. "Stay back Jaden. I'll handle this."

Returning his attention to Gozaburo, Illidan added "I see you have no intentions of taking me up on my offer, so I'll have to do the only thing I know to do, which is to challenge you to a duel!"

Releasing a loud laugh full of malice, the robed figure sneered and shifted the weight of the wailing babe in his arms, saying "I have a much better idea. Since the others will no doubt challenge me once I finish with you, I propose we have a five on one duel. I will take on yourself, Illidan, along with Marie, Seto, Yugi, and Jaden. The five of you are the only ones I want to duel. The others mean nothing to me."

"No, you will face me alone." Illidan growled in response.

"Now, now Illidan, you are not one in a position to be disagreeing with me, now are you?" Gozaburo taunted.

Seeing he was holding the sphere of black energy closer to his daughter once more, the brown haired duelist clenched his hands tightly and grunted out "Fine, have it your way, but trust me, you will regret your decision."

"We shall see." Gozaburo remarked while the sphere of energy vanished. A moment passed and a black glow formed around the crying child, causing her to vanish once more.

Seeing the worry and anger washing over the numerous faces, the robed figure sneered, saying "Worry not for little Arya. She is safe. I returned her to her hiding place. Once we finish up, I'll raise her up to be a proper young lady."

"Over my dead body!" Marie ground out with eyes flaring with anger.

"Calm down Marie."

Looking to see it was her husband who had spoke, the female duelist began to lash back with a fierce remark, but stopped herself. Moving towards her husband, she cast a glare at the robed duelist and growled out "If you have hurt her in any way, you'll wish that you had never met me."

"Not likely, seeing how you, with all your power, can't stop me. You can't even learn how to tap into it at will." Gozaburo smugly remarked.

"Pay no heed to him." Illidan interrupted before his wife could reply. "You're just wasting your time."

Casting a glare at her husband, the female duelist slowly nodded her head. With that, the brown haired duelist calmly said "Let's begin this foolish duel. I look forward to when you no longer exist."

"Before we begin, I guess I could fill you in on a few things that I'm sure are plaguing your minds." the robed figure remarked. "I suppose the top of the list is how I am even alive, am I right?"

Receiving no response, Gozaburo sneered, saying "The last time all of you saw me was on Kaiba Corp Island when I lost my duel to Illidan about eleven years ago. I had originally intended to send Marie to the Shadows for his victory, but in a rash decision, I allowed myself to be taken instead. For that, Marie was spared from the Shadow Realm, while I was sent. There I languished for many years, till without warning, a deal was apparently struck this year to release my soul."

"The foolish man known as Darcia, a servant of the Orichalcos, fed the Shadows 600 souls to release six strong souls from the Shadow Realm so he could use those six souls to help him bring the Orichalcos back from the brink of extinction. The six souls released were known as the Fallen Angels. I was among the six."

"That idiot's goals were so short minded. He planned on us gathering energy and bringing the Orichalcos back to it's original strength, and then to revive the creature he called The Great Leviathan. With those two, we would cleanse the Earth of all evil, or so he said."

Sneering, the robed figure added "He was such a fool. When he brought back the six souls, he didn't know that my soul had increased in strength while within the Shadows. The power that the Millennium Crown once held was nearly all at my disposal. While within the Shadows, I became stronger than any other soul ever has, but even with that power, I could not escape. Once that fool had released me though, it was all over. He signed his own warrant for death by releasing me."

"I must say, he was partially right though. By reenergizing the Orichalcos, life has become much easier, plus The Great Leviathan shall rise once more, but fly under my command."

Smirking, Gozaburo smugly said "I must thank all of you. If not for your help, the Orichalcos wouldn't have been revived. With all of the battles in Dark World that were fought, I was able to gain enough Duel Energy to refuel the Orichalcos. It is now more powerful than ever. So thank you, all of you."

"You can thank us when you're sealed away, forever, with your worthless stone." Illidan grit out while pulling his deck out and shuffling it.

Seeing the other four duelists were doing the same, the robed duelist shrugged, saying "I see you're all business today, Illidan. Very well, I shall take great pleasure in ending your pitiful life."

Watching the robed duelist shuffle his own deck, the brown haired duelist yelled "The rest of you, stay back. Let the five of us handle this. Just be on guard."

Nodding, the five remaining duelists backed away while the other five finished preparing their decks. Spreading out, the five took up stances while the robed duelist did the same.

"This will be fun. I can't wait to torture all five of you." Gozaburo sinisterly remarked.

Holding his left arm out before his body diagonally, Illidan firmly replied "That won't happen. This ends here and now, Gozaburo. I will not allow you to remain in any world, let it be this dimension or our home one!"

"Just try and get rid of me. I think you may find you can't."

Sneering, the robed duelist calmly added "Before we begin, I should inform you of the rules for the duel. First off, I will begin with 20000 life points, while all of you will have 8000. Is that a problem? If so, then tough. Secondly, none of you can attack during your teams first turn. Once I begin my first turn, I may attack. Thirdly, you can defend any of your partners in this duel, for I don't care. Lastly, all of you will die here."

"We'll see." Illidan ground out.

Glancing at the others, the brown haired duelist nodded, signaling them to fire up their Duel Disks. At the same time, the robed duelist did the same. Simultaneously, the six duelists drew their first five cards, with all saying "Duel!"


	51. Chapter 49: Fight for the Future, Pt 1

**Hey gang! So, not too much new in my life. My dad and I seem to be back to where we once were, I guess. Of course, I was a touch angered with him this weekend for some comments he made to me, but I don't know. I went out and helped him on the farm Saturday, though the ground was rather wet still yet from Thursday's storms. He wanted to go back on the hill where we had some lime to spread, but the problem is, the road to where the lime needed to go was muddy, thus making it difficult to haul back there, especially when you have two tons of lime being pulled behind you. We made it back alright the first time, but the second I had to pull him up the hill with our other tractor due that he put a heavier load on. After that, I constantly had to go back and help pull him up the hill, which was a pain, but oh well. We got three loads spread before we called it quits so I could go with my step brother to a show. I had fun at that. It was put on by the international students at his school, with them cooking international dishes, then performing and displaying clothing from their countries. It gave me some insight into how clothing looked for my other stories (Inuyasha ones), so good times. Then Sunday morning, dad called, in which he told me he needed my help to spread the lime. I had planned on seeing my grandmother and watching my grandfather while she went to the store, but dad desperately wanted to spread the lime. What ticked me off the most was the comment he made that he shouldn't have let me go to that dinner/show with my step brother, and instead kept working. That pissed me off, but I let it go while I mentally noted he should be damn thankful I was helping him after the silent treatment he had given me the week before. Anyways, I went and helped him, with numerous setbacks. I think it was God's way of saying "Idiots, quit working on my day!" And it was kind of funny, because the pastor of our church had a sermon on the very thing we were doing that morning, which was to not work on Sunday. Dad just ignored that too, I think, lol. Anyways, after several setbacks and problems, we did finish that night around 8:30, but we had to haul the equipment home. I got the joy of riding the tractors back, which I didn't mind the first ride due that that tractor was slower, but the second had no working headlights, plus it has a scoop bucket on the front of it, so it's hard enough to see with that damn thing, but it was dark also, and dad wasn't doing the best job of following me up the road. Plus that tractor is faster, so it was colder, not to mention felt more dangerous due that I had more speed and running something that big on open road at higher speeds isn't easy since the tires kind of knock the balance off. At any rate, I made it back safe and sound with both tractors, with minimal traffic. Other than that, life has been about normal, other than it raining for the last few days, but today it looks nice. Supposed to rain tomorrow, but oh well, lol.**

**Writing wise, things are moving along with this story. Also, I've been working on my coauthor creation with my wife for an Inuyasha story, which is moving along nicely also. I look forward to pushing it out to be read.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Lol, yeah, quite a few rules were broken, along with mistakes, but oh well. Ardee did a good job, but the finer rules are sometimes ignored, on both our parts, but it happens. Actually, this entire story has been a coauthor work, so he hasn't just recently jumped in and helped write, he's been working on the story the entire time with me. True, I wish Yubel had fully unleashed all of her forms, but I guess it's alright. Yes, it should be interesting to see how Gozaburo does against all five of his opponents. As for why Lucifer was Gozaburo, well, it kind of just happened. It all began with him for Illidan and Marie, and it seems that it will all end with him also. Nah, Lucifer is not Illidan's darker half from the future, although that would have been interesting. Thanks for the review!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: Glad you liked the chapter, and that you've liked my stories since the beginning. Yeah, Yubel fused with Jaden, but Gozaburo seems ready to break that union apart. Cool about the short story. If I get a chance, I may read it. Thanks for the review!**

**Genma no Ou: Lol, speechless? That's nice, hehe. True, I placed Yubel into place like Season 3 and 4 did. I was kind of unsure how to deal with her, but I figured that would be the best way to deal with her. Yes, there are more chapters to go, so no worries. True, Yubel at least got her wish to be with Jaden forever. I was kind of unsure what Yubel was prior to his/her transformation. 4Kids mangled the series so badly, and even in the Japanese version, I thought it sounded like a boy, plus everyone kept pointing out that Yubel was really a boy, so I was like, I don't know, lol. At any rate, I put her together with Jaden in the end. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I really appreciated them, and I hope to continue to hear your opinions/thoughts on this story. Also, to anyone who hasn't reviewed but wish to express your thoughts, opinions, or have questions, please, don't be shy. I won't bite your head off for whatever you ask or say. I respect people's thoughts and opinions, so it's always nice to hear what someone is thinking about my story. As well, thank you to all of you that added my story and me as an author to your favorites. I really appreciate that.**

**At any rate, I need to run. Thank you, all of you. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 49**

"I'll generously allow the five of you begin, but don't forget, you can't attack me until after I take my first turn." Gozaburo smugly stated.

Drawing his sixth card, Jaden ground out "That won't be a problem. You'll pay for what you did to Yubel, beginning this turn! I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200)!"

Emerging onto the field in a spray of bubbles was a man wearing a white cape, with two silver air tanks on his back, a light blue helmet that covered all but his mouth, the same colored shoulder pads, gloves, and boots, with dark blue filling in the spaces missing, and a small blaster like attachment on his right arm. He had a small smile on his face, seemingly confident in his abilities.

"When I summon Bubbleman and he's the only card on my field, I can draw two new cards."

Picking up two cards, Jaden eyed them momentarily before selecting a third card from his hand and turning it towards his opponent. "I activate the spell Polymerization, and fuse Bubbleman on my field with Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Sparkman (1600/1400) from my hand to form Elemental Hero Tempest (2800/2800)!"

Sparks began filling the field as a warrior in blue and gold armor and two wing like structures on his back materialized. Beside of him, a green fur covered warrior with large white wings with green on the top tips of them, a three clawed weapon on his left hand, and a mask mostly made of what looked like feathers appeared.

The three warriors suddenly began swirling together, till a few beams of light formed around the swirling and a new creature came from it. It had mostly wore blue spandex and some gold armor that obviously came from the blue and gold warrior. On his right arm, instead of a hand, there was a single gun point. On his left hand was a claw like piece of armor. His back had a pair of metal white wings with green at the top. He had a pair of silver shoulder pads, and his muscular arms were bare. His face has a small blue visor covering his eyes with golden tips at the ends over his ears. He had long green hair lightly swayed with the wind surrounding his summoning.

"To end, I set a face down." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 8000, Yugi = 8000, Illidan = 8000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Quickly drawing his card, Seto smoothly said "You'll regret coming back from the grave, Gozaburo."

"Will I now? Unlikely, since in our last encounter, you were far too weak to even begin to fight with me." Gozaburo smugly remarked.

"Say what you want, but you know deep down I'm better than you, and I'll prove that to you once again today." Seto coolly replied. "I start with the spell Cost Down! Thanks to this card, I can discard one card from my hand in order to lower the level of all monsters in my hand by two stars."

Placing a card into his Graveyard Slot, Seto selected another card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "Now I can summon a level six monster like a level four, so rise up Kaiser Glider (2400/2200)!"

Rising up onto the field in a golden flash was a golden metallic armored dragon with sharp clawed hands and feet, metallic wings, and a golden aura surrounding it's body, which slowly faded.

"Next I activate the spell Monster Reborn! With this, I can resurrect the monster I sent to the Graveyard for Cost Down's effect. Care to take a guess, old man?"

Earning himself a glare and a light growl, Seto smirked and tauntingly asked "Do you need a hint? It's got blue eyes and white scales."

Letting out a furious laugh as a card slid out of his Graveyard Slot, Seto grabbed hold of it and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, yelling "It's my Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

Materializing instantly onto the field was a large white metallic looking dragon with a massive wingspan, sharp clawed hands and feet, and sharp teeth. The dragon released a might roar while spreading it's wings.

"I end my turn." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 8000, Yugi = 8000, Illidan = 8000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Drawing her sixth card, Marie examined it momentarily before firmly saying "You will pay for taking our daughter. Know that you can never be forgiven for the deeds you have done, Gozaburo. I activate the spell Celestial Transformation! This spell allows me to special summon any Fairy Type monster from my hand to the field, but it's attack points are cut in half and during my End Phase, it goes to the Graveyard."

Selecting a card from her hand, the female duelist slapped it onto her Duel Disk, saying "I choose The Agent of Creation – Venus (1600 / 2 = 800/0)!"

A fairy with golden skin and blonde hair, as well as golden wings appeared onto the field in a flash. She wore a green dress with some gold mixed into it. In front of her were three spheres, one which was blue, another red, and finally a purple one. They were hovering in a triangle like position in front of her body.

"Next, I activate Venus's effect, allowing me to give up 500 life points in order to special summon a monster known as Mystical Shine Ball (500/500) from my hand or deck to my field. I give up 1500 life points, allowing me to special summon all three from my deck in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field in a small flash were three small spheres of shining light and seemingly clouds.

"I'm far from done, for I sacrifice one of my Mystical Shine Ball's and Venus to summon Guardian Angel Joan (2800/2000)!"

Vanishing one by one, the single sphere of shining energy and the golden skinned angel disappeared in a golden glow. A moment passed before a female angel with pink satin skin, who wore a white dress that showed her many curves and golden wings appeared in their place.

"I set one card face down to end my turn." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 8000, Illidan = 8000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Silently drawing his card, Yugi examined the cards in his hand for a moment before coldly saying "You will pay for kidnapping my goddaughter."

"As if you have anything to make me fear you." Gozaburo smartly commented.

Pulling a card from his hand and placing it onto his Duel Disk, Yugi firmly replied "I have plenty, starting with Skilled White Magician (1700/1900)!"

A mage in white robes and cloak with a white hood, a staff, and three half spheres, with one on each shoulder, and one on his chest, materialized onto the field in a swirl of holographic particles. Swinging his staff about into an offensive stance, the mage let out a small battle cry.

"Next, I activate the spell Graceful Charity! This lets me draw three cards from my deck, but send two from my hand when I'm done."

Snapping off three cards, Yugi examined them and picked two from his hand and placed them into the Graveyard Slot. Upon finishing, one of the half sphere's on the white mage's body glowed to life.

Seeing that Gozaburo had noticed the mage's change, Yugi calmly said "When a spell card is activated, Skilled White Magician's effect kicks in. He gains a Spell Counter for each spell card played, and can hold up to three at once. Now then, I activate another spell, Fusion Sage! This lets me place Polymerization from my deck to my hand."

Pulling his deck out and searching through it, the spiked haired duelist finally found the card he desired and shuffled his deck before replacing it in it's slot. While doing so, another half sphere on the white mage glowed to life, giving him two.

Placing a card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, the spiked haired duelist firmly said "I set this and activate another spell, Emergency Provisions. This lets me sacrifice any number of spell or trap cards from my field to gain 1000 life points per a card. Since I only have one set card, I send it to the Graveyard. Oh yeah, and if you're curious, the card I just got rid of was Polymerization."

Watching the face down card image fade away, Yugi pointed to his white mage, who had three lit up spheres on his body. "Since Skilled White Magician has three Spell Counters, I can now remove them and sacrifice him in order to special summon from my deck Buster Blader (2600/2300)!"

The mage instantly vanished from the field and was replaced by a mighty warrior clad in violet full-body armor that was brandishing a large halberd sword in his hands.

"I place one card face down to end my turn." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 8000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Silently drawing his card, Illidan glanced at the new card and quickly slid it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot before saying "I play the spell Quick Summon. Thanks to this card, I can have an extra Normal Summon. I use this now, so rise up onto the field Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 (1600/1000)!"

Rising up onto the field immediately was a semi-large silver dragon that looked more like a large silver bird. It had large silver wings for arms that were tucked in and large talons on it's feet.

"Next I sacrifice Horus LV4 to summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6 (2300/1600)!"

Aiming it's head at the ground, the silver dragon released a stream of black flames, which instantly engulfed the small dragon completely. After a moment, silver metal wings poked out of the flames, along with an eagle like head. With strong wing beats, the new creature pulled itself out of the flames, revealing that the silver dragon had metamorphosed from a smaller dragon into a dragon that looked very much like a predatory bird with a long silver tail. Landing onto the field, the dragon let out a screech.

"To end, I'll set this card. I end my turn." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 8000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Drawing his sixth card in silence, Gozaburo began to lightly chuckle. In a dark voice, he said "I am not surprised at the five of you. Not a one of you have disappointed me in what your first turn would be like. Each of you summoned powerful creatures to the field, and each of you has a set of strategies hinging on your face down cards."

"However, none of your cards will make a difference. I'll show you by playing the spell card Heavy Storm! Now all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed!"

Without warning, a large gust of wind roared through the field, causing all of the face down cards to rise up from their positions and shatter one by one.

Smirking, Jaden pointed at his opponent, saying "Bad move, for you activated the trap Hero Metal. When destroyed by the effect of an opponent's card, instead of going to my Graveyard, it goes to my deck. Then I shuffle and draw a card."

Watching the young duelist shuffle the card into his deck and draw a card, Gozaburo sneered, saying "It matters not that you drew a card, for I activate another spell. It's Dark Hole, which now destroys all monsters on the field. So much for all that hard work each of you put in."

Opening up in the center of the field was a massive dark swirling hole. One by one, all of the monsters on the field cried out in pain and exploded, leaving the entire dueling field covered in smoke.

"Looks like I just cleared the entire…"

Before the figure in the black robe could conclude his statement, he growled when he saw the silver dragon before Illidan.

"You look surprised, Gozaburo." Illidan smartly remarked. "You should have read the fine print on Horus LV6. His special ability keeps him from being affected by spell cards. That means he can't be harmed by your Dark Hole."

Gritting his teeth, Gozaburo suddenly stopped and darkly chuckled. "But of course, Illidan. I knew your dragon wouldn't go down that easily. Moving along, I activate this spell, Painful Choice. With it, I choose five cards from my deck and then have one of you select the card I get to keep, while the rest are sent to the Graveyard."

"_This is the same move he used against me!_" Yubel declared within Jaden's mind.

Mentally, the young duelist asked "_What does he have planned?_"

"_He'll select five cards that none of you have heard of. Even I hadn't until my duel with him. I took a guess and let him keep the monster of the cards he had, which was a bad mistake on my part._"

Pulling his deck out, the robed duelist selected five cards and placed them onto his Duel Disk, causing five holographic cards to appear onto the field. Of the five, there was one monster and four spell cards.

"_It's exactly the same, with exception of one card._" Yubel grit out. "_His Azure Corona – The First Rift, isn't in the mix._"

"I have selected these five cards: Envoy of the Void, Sanguine Sanctum, Trade-In, Face of the Void, and Power Zone. Now then, the person to choose, it shall be…"

Smirking after feigning a moment of indecision, the robed duelist pointed at the duelist with the lone monster, saying "It is you who shall choose the card I keep."

Keeping his eyes fixed on his opponent, Illidan examined each of the five cards. Before he could answer, he heard a voice in his mind crying out "_Illidan, be careful!_"

Identifying the voice as Jaden, Illidan mentally replied "_Is something wrong?_"

"_Yubel told me this is the same move Gozaburo played against her. She says those are four of the five cards he played against her. I think he wants you to pick his monster._"

Rolling the words of the young duelist in his mind, Illidan finally spoke up, saying "I choose your field spell, Power Zone."

"A fine choice, Illidan." Gozaburo smugly remarked. Picking up the selected card and placing it into his left hand, the robed duelist picked up the other four cards and deposited them into his Graveyard Slot.

Selecting a card from his hand, he slid it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, Gozaburo coolly said "I activate the spell Tuner Calling. This spell activates when I summon a monster. Each time I do, I can special summon a Tuner Type monster from my deck to the field. And at that, I activate another spell, Azure Corona – The First Rift."

Appearing onto the field after a moment passed were dark blue stars that formed before the robed duelist. The stars began lighting up onto the field, seemingly absorbing all of the light energy present, while darkening the playing field at the same time.

"Azure Corona gains one Spell Counter each time I destroy a monster in battle. Then during each of your draw phases, each of you will take 100 points of direct damage per a Spell Counter on it. And when I draw, all five of you will receive the same damage. But enough about Azure Corona for now, for I activate the field spell Power Zone."

Holding his Duel Disk vertical, the robed duelist tapped the end of his Duel Disk, causing a slot to slide out. Placing the card he held in his right hand, the duelist smirked as the slot closed and the sky began to darken, with black clouds forming overhead and lightning flashing and thunder booming.

"Finally, I summon the monster known as Changeling (0/0)."

Forming onto the field immediately was a copper colored sphere of liquid metal. It seemed shapeless and just barely holding itself together.

"Since I just summoned Changeling, the effect of Tuner Calling is activated. From my deck, I can special summon a Tuner Type monster."

Pulling his deck out, the robed duelist sifted through it momentarily before slapping a card onto his Duel Disk, saying "I choose this, Dark Sphere (100/100)."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a dark sphere like creature that had no signs of life other than a swirling of the dark energy around itself.

"Next, I activate the effect of Changeling. While on the field, I can have it copy the name and level of any monster in any of our Graveyards for my turn alone. Of course, it can't attack, nor does it's attack points change, but that's not it's true purpose."

Sneering at his opponents, Gozaburo smugly said "Whose Graveyard shall I choose I wonder. All five of you have stashed plenty of powerful monsters in them."

Pausing for a moment, he began darkly chuckling, saying "I know exactly whose monster I want to copy. I choose Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

Suddenly, the copper sphere of ooze began morphing and changing shape. After a moment, it took shape of a large white dragon with massive wings and sharp clawed hands and feet. The dragon released a mighty roar while casting a glare on it's master's opponents.

Growling lowly, Seto grit out "You will pay for disrespecting my Blue-Eyes!"

"We'll see, now won't we?" Gozaburo mocked. "Now then, I send both Changeling and Dark Sphere to the Graveyard in order to perform a Synchro Summon!"

"Synchro Summon?" Yugi questioned.

Smirking sinisterly, the robed duelist smartly replied "Yes, a Synchro Summon. You see, Dark Sphere is a Tuner Type monster, which is a special type of monster. To perform a Synchro Summon, I must have at least one Tuner Type monster and at least one non-Tuner Type monster. By sending both to my Grave, I can then perform a Synchro Summon to summon a new type of monster from my Extra Deck, or Fusion Deck as it's better known. Ah yes, one last piece of information, which is that to do a Synchro Summon, I must have two monsters whose level equals the monster that I'm attempting to summon. The card I want to summon has nine stars. Dark Sphere has one, while Changeling, who is masquerading as Blue-Eyes White Dragon, has eight, giving me a total of nine. Now rise up my new creature! Show these fools who you are!"

The white dragon immediately became a sphere of white energy, while the black sphere became more compressed. The two began swirling around one another till finally they touched and a brilliant blinding white light filled the field, forcing the entire group to cover their faces from the light. A moment passed before the light died down, revealing a large black metallic looking dragon with blue eyes, massive wings, and sharp clawed hands and feet. The dragon released a might roar, causing the area to seemingly shake from the dragon's mere presence.

"Meet my Blue-Eyes Black Dragon (3000/2500)."

Growling loudly, Seto pointed an accusing finger at his step father, yelling "That's impossible! I have every type of Blue-Eyes ever created. There were only three forms of Blue-Eyes ever created, and I own each, so you can't have another form!"

"Wrong, my step son." Gozaburo chided. "You see, this card is genuine, I guarantee it. I suppose that must be hard for you to accept, right Seto?"

Earning himself a fierce glare from his step son, the robed duelist shrugged, saying "No matter, my dragon will prove itself soon enough. Now then, Blue-Eyes Black Dragon, go prove yourself by crushing Horus with Black Lightning!"

Releasing another might roar, the black dragon flapped it's wings twice, sending it high into the air. Looking down at the silver dragon, the large black dragon opened it's jaws, revealing glowing black energy from within it's mouth. A stream of pure black energy soon surged out and struck the silver dragon, which screeched out in pain before shattering into millions of pixels while it's master shielded himself from the remainder of the blast.

"And now, the effect of Power Zone kicks in. When a monster is destroyed in battle, the owner of that monster loses life points equal to their monster's attack points. This won't hurt much, for me at least!"

Without warning, a large bolt of lightning poured out of the sky and struck Illidan, making him scream out in pain as his life points drained. The lightning slowly subsided, causing the brown haired duelist to fall to one knee while panting heavily. Wisps of smoke poured off of his body as he sat on his knee, seemingly unable to quell his heavy breaths.

"Illidan!" Marie called out with worry visibly on her face.

The others looked at their friend with concern, but none made a move towards him, thinking they would be penalized if they did. In a smug tone, Gozaburo said "That looked painful. Now then, Azure Corona's effect kicks in, giving it one Spell Counter. At that, I move to my End Phase, in which Changeling's effect activates. When sent to the Graveyard due to a Synchro Summon, I can add it back to my hand during the End Phase of that turn."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist patiently waited for the monster card to eject. At long last, it did and he picked it up, adding it to his left hand. "I end my turn." (Jaden = 8000, Seto = 8000, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 5000; Gozaburo = 20000)

Glancing at the kneeling form of Illidan, Jaden asked with worry visible in his voice "Illidan, are you alright!?"

Wincing while standing, Illidan grit out "I'll be fine."

Nodding his head, the young duelist drew his card, only to watch as the single bluish star glow brightly. In a flash, a blast of black energy raced forward from it and struck Jaden head on, making him cringe from the small amount of pain.

"Remember, during each of your Draw Phases, each of you will lose 100 life points." Gozaburo reminded.

Looking at his card, Jaden fiercely replied "So what! That won't stop me, for I activate the spell The Warrior Returning Alive! With this, I can take a Warrior Type monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose Elemental Hero Bubbleman."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the young duelist came to life and pushed the single monster card out. Picking it up and slapping it onto his Duel Disk, Jaden declared "And at that, I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman (800/1200)!"

Reappearing onto the field in a swirl of bubbles was the blue armored warrior with a small water gun equipped to his right wrist.

"Since Bubbleman is all alone, I draw two more cards."

Picking up two cards, the young duelist turned one of them towards his opponent, saying "I activate the spell Fusion Recovery! With this, I can take one Polymerization card and one Fusion Material monster from my Graveyard and add them back to my hand. The monster I choose is Elemental Hero Avian."

Once more coming to life, the Graveyard Slot belonging to the young duelist pushed both the spell and monster cards out of itself and into the awaiting hand of the young duelist. Turning both towards Gozaburo, he confidently said "I activate Polymerization, fusing Elemental Heroes Avian (1000/1000) and Bubbleman together to form Elemental Hero Mariner (1400/1000)!"

Rematerializing onto the field in a flash was the green fur warrior with white wings and a clawed left hand. A moment passed and the two monsters began swirling together. With the two gone, a new human looking creature with light green skin, long black spiked hair, and wearing wound up chains on his wrists with an anchor on covering each hand, a light blue battle skirt and boots, light blue shoulder pads with a purple anchor symbol, a white and a red scarf hanging off of his back, and a blue mask with red eye holes and gold framing the outside of the mask appeared in the field.

"I'm far from done, for I activate the spell Common Soul, forcing me to select a monster on my field, so I choose Mariner. Next, I can special summon one Neo-Spacian from my hand, so I pick Neo-Spacian Glow Moss (300/900)."

Forming onto the field with a light green glow was a small alien looking creature that had a perfectly round head with two black holes for eyes, a slender body, and a green glow.

"Thanks to Common Soul, all of Glow Moss's attack points are added to Mariner's (1400 + 300 = 1700/1000), but that's unimportant, for I activate the spell NEX, or better known as Neo-Spacian Extent. This lets me sacrifice Glow Moss in order to special summon a Fusion Type monster from my deck with the same name, so Glow Moss evolves into Neo-Spacian Twinkle Moss (500/1100)."

Vanishing from the field in a flash, the light green creature disappeared, only to be replaced by a new light green energy creature that had spiky hair, slanted black eye holes, feminine curves, and slender fingers.

"Sure, Mariner loses his bonus attack points (1400/1000), but that's alright. Next, I'll place one face down card, allowing me to activate Mariner's special ability. Should I happen to have at least one face down spell/trap card, he can direct attack, so go get him! Anchors Away!"

Leaping into the air, the light green skinned warrior launched his right hand forward, causing the anchor covering his hand to release and fly towards the robed duelist while a chain linked it to the warrior. The anchor struck out at the robed duelist, punched the anchor away with his right hand, causing a small bit of blood to come from a wound that was formed from where the anchor's tip dug in.

"And now, I activate Twinkle Moss's effect. First, I draw a card, and depending on it's type is what will happen since it has three abilities."

Quickly drawing a card, Jaden smirked and showed it, saying "I drew the spell De-Fusion, so now Twinkle Moss's special ability activates, which allows it to direct attack!"

Doing like the warrior before it had, the light green glowing creature took to the air and turned it's right palm towards the robed duelist. A series of light green energy pulses went racing forward and struck the robed figure, causing his robes to ruffle in the air.

"I set a face down and end my turn." (Jaden = 7900, Seto = 8000, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 5000; Gozaburo = 18100)

Silently drawing a card, the duelist in the white trench coat lightly cringed as a blast of dark black energy struck him, draining him of 100 life points. Throwing a glare at his former step father, Seto examined the card in his hand and then the other two in his other hand.

Smirking, he coolly said "It's show time. I first summon Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) to the field in defense mode."

A clown with a white and black striped face, with yellow and blue-green baggy clothing, a blue vest with a white collar, a large red hat with a long pink flowing wig materialized onto the field in a sitting position. He sat on top of a horizontal card image that had his image, making the clown smile a bit more.

"To end, I'll set two face downs. Now come and get me, if you dare, Gozaburo." (Jaden = 7900, Seto = 7900, Marie = 6500, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 5000; Gozaburo = 18100)

"Back to me then!" Marie declared while drawing her card. Upon doing so, a blast of black energy launched from the dark blue star before the robed duelist. The blast hit the female duelist head on, making her softly cry out in pain.

Shrugging off the damage, the female duelist selected a card from her left hand and placed it horizontally onto her Duel Disk, saying "I may not be able to attack your dragon, but I can summon this, my Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) in defense mode."

Three small fairy creatures with tiny white wings on their backs, dressed in light blue flowing robes formed onto the field a top a horizontal card image. The first fairy had brown hair that reached her mid-back in length and a blue top that covered the top of her robe down to her wrists. Next to her, another fairy had dark pink hair that reached her mid-back in length also, with a green flowering collar. The final fairy had red hair that was bound in a ponytail and wore a similar blue top like the brown haired fairy.

"I end my turn." (Jaden = 7900, Seto = 7900, Marie = 6400, Yugi = 9000, Illidan = 5000; Gozaburo = 18100)

Picking up a card, the spike haired duelist readied himself for the blast of black energy that he knew would be fired. The blast hit semi-hard, but he showed no signs of pain. Looking at the card he had drawn, Yugi placed the card horizontally onto his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Red Gadget (1300/1500) in defense."

Forming onto the field immediately in a kneeling stance upon a horizontal card image was a red machine creature that had a large silver gear on it's back, short gray legs with large red feet, a head with two glowering green eyes, and arms crossed before it's body with gears on each wrist.

"When Red Gadget is Normal Summoned, I'm allowed to add from my deck to my hand Yellow Gadget."

Pulling his deck out and searching it, the spike haired duelist found the monster he wanted and placed it within his left hand. Shuffling his deck, he placed it back in it's slot, saying "I'm done." (Jaden = 7900, Seto = 7900, Marie = 6400, Yugi = 8900, Illidan = 5000; Gozaburo = 18100)

Drawing his own card, the brown haired duelist grunted lightly when the blast of black energy hit him. Regaining his composure, Illidan coolly turned the card he had drawn towards Gozaburo, saying "I activate Graceful Charity, meaning I draw three new cards and discard two when I'm done."

Snapping off three new cards, the brown haired duelist placed them in with his other cards in his left hand. Examining the five cards, he selected two and placed them into his Graveyard Slot.

"It's time I turned things around, and it begins with this, the spell Level Modulation! Due to this card's effect, you first draw two cards, Gozaburo."

Darkly chuckling while picking up two cards, the robed duelist smugly remarked "You'll regret that choice, I promise you that, Illidan Stormrage."

"Whatever." Illidan muttered. "Now that you have your two cards, the secondary effect of Level Modulation kicks in. I'm allowed to special summon one monster from my Graveyard with 'LV' in it's name to the field. My choice is Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)!"

Black flames instantly covered the field before the brown haired duelist. Rising out of the flames and onto the field with a mighty screech was a silver metallic looking dragon a set of large razor sharp feather like wings on it's back, powerful legs with three talon like claws, strong three clawed hands, and a powerful head that looked like the head of an eagle. Landing onto the field, the dragon roared loudly once more, causing all of the black flames to dissipate.

"Wait, how did that get in his Graveyard?" Syrus questioned aloud.

Glancing at his young friend, Jesse spoke up, saying "He must have put it there when he had to discard those two cards."

"No doubt." Zane remarked.

On the field, Gozaburo darkly began chuckling, asking "Is that all?"

Selecting a card from his hand, the brown haired duelist placed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I'll set this and end." (Jaden = 7900, Seto = 7900, Marie = 6400, Yugi = 8900, Illidan = 4900; Gozaburo = 18100)

Deliberately drawing a card slowly, Gozaburo evilly began chuckling, saying "First off, each of you lose 100 life points due to Azure Corona."

The dark blue star glowed to life and released five single blasts of black energy. Each of the energy blasts struck their targets, causing each of the five duelists to cringe lightly while their life points dropped by 100 points.

"Now then, I summon Changeling (0/0) to my field once more."

Reforming onto the field was the bronze colored sphere creature.

"Next, Tuner Calling activates, allowing me to special summon another Tuner Type monster from my deck, so I choose another Dark Sphere (100/100)!"

Pulling his deck out and searching through it, the robed duelist selected the desired card and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. Forming onto the field immediately was the black sphere of swirling dark energy.

Replacing his deck, the robed duelist smugly said "I activate the effect of Dark Sphere. When special summoned, I'm allowed to return up to two Tuner Type monsters from my Graveyard to my deck, so I return the lone Dark Sphere that resides within it."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the robed duelist ejected the single monster card. Picking it up, Gozaburo shuffled it into his deck and finally replaced it in it's slot.

"I now activate Changeling's effect, allowing it to copy the name and level of a monster in one of our Graveyards."

Pointing at the female duelist with an accusing finger, the robed duelist smartly declared "I choose your Guardian Angel Joan!"

"What?" Marie asked in confusion.

Instantly, the bronzed sphere began changing it's shape. Slowly, it transformed itself into the image of the pink skinned angel with a set of white robes and white wings on it's back.

"And now, I begin another Synchro Summon by merging Guardian Angel Joan and Dark Sphere together, allowing me to summon a level eight Synchro Type monster. Form together now, to create…"

Glowing to life, both the angel and the dark sphere became spheres, with the angel becoming a golden sphere while the dark sphere compressed itself. The two swirled together till finally a blinding light formed, causing the group of five duelists to cover their eyes from the light. Slowly, the light died, revealing a feminine demon with black feathery wings and a black set of robes, along with dark purple skin and jet black hair. The demoness's eyes were a dark orange color, seemingly revealing anger within them.

"… Demoness Joan (2800/2000)!"

Staring at the new monster, the female duelist clenched her right fist tightly, gritting out "How could you take a creature of purity and turn it into darkness! You're a sick freak!"

"Why thank you, my dearest Marie." Gozaburo commented. "Moving along, I set three face down cards and end my turn. Since I am, Changeling's effect kicks in, returning it to my hand. Now come, show me what the five of you can do." (Jaden = 7800, Seto = 7800, Marie = 6300, Yugi = 8800, Illidan = 4800; Gozaburo = 18100)


	52. Chapter 50: Fight for the Future, Pt 2

**Hey everyone! Well, last week was interesting. Home life was about normal as always, but work just got a bit busy. I've had a coding project in the works for the last couple of weeks, which was something that I wasn't familiar with to start with, but worked with it till I felt comfortable. I finally finished early this week and turned it in to be evaluated, with little things coming up for changes. Otherwise, it looked good to my boss. Then the guy who is in charge of updating our code and built the original system I was replacing talked with me, telling me that he wanted to move my code around a little so it would catch all the errors. Well, I had no problems with that, so I began moving it, only to find out I couldn't move it to where he wanted. You see, we have three layers for our website. There is Core, Tiers, and Web. Core keeps things we store data in, with Tiers doing the talking to our database, and Web is just the User Interface. My project code was in Web, but he wanted it moved to Core. Problem is, my code in Web uses Tiers to do some of it's work. Core can't talk directly with Tiers. Thus my code fails to work in Core. Upon realizing this, the guy told me to move what was in Core (the file where my code was) to Tiers since we were going to do this anyways. So, I did that, only to cause a bigger mess due that other files in Core needed the one I moved, but couldn't talk to it now that it's in Tiers. In the end, I had to move several files from Core to Tiers before I got a reasonable work around. Now I have tons of rehashing to do, since there are two layers to Tiers also. They're called Business Logic Layer (BLL) and Data Access Layer (DAL). I moved all those files to the BLL, but there is stuff that needs hashed out and moved to DAL. Ack, it's going to be a long week next week. Plus I have to write tests up for each. (/Sighs\)**

**Writing wise, this story is nearing it's end slowly. Once this duel is over, there isn't but a chapter or two left after that, so I'd say we're down to the last 5-10 chapters. As for my other stories, the one my wife and I are working on, **_**Reunion**_**, is going well. I'm thinking it'll be posted sometime this month.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: It has been a while. LOL! Just keep trying with the whifflebat. Yep, the person who took Arya and is holding her hostage is Gozaburo. Heh, seems like things just circle around for those two. True, in the show, he was a lesser evil, but I made him out to be a bit worse, hehe. The Corona deck is mainly ardee's creation. I've tweaked it a little, but not much, more or less. So true, the Tuner and Synchro cards finally made it in here at the end, but they didn't come out till we were near the end, and who better to wield them then Gozaburo himself. Yes, the new dark versions of our heroes' monsters seems interesting. Those I kind of came up with on my own and thought they would be fitting for this duel. Heh, yeah, this is but the tip of the iceberg, so hang on. Good luck with the bat, lol. Thanks for your wonderful review!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: Yeah, the dark counterparts in the form of Synchro monsters are seemingly powerful. Yep, things are getting hectic, and it's just beginning. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yep, this entire story series, **_**Tournament of Power**_**, began with Gozaburo as the main villain, due that he had a connection with the others in the past. It was my twist on the series I suppose. And he wasn't weak by any means at that time, for he had the most powerful of the Millennium Items (well, an 8****th**** item I created, called the Millennium Crown). Feel free though to mention the rule breaking. I know I do break some, but I try hard to keep close to the actual rules. Sometimes the situation just requires that I bend or break it. Plus I haven't kept up on rules too much since I mostly quit playing long ago. I didn't think I broke any rules on Horus… Hmm, do you mean about Dark Hole and him? That one I wasn't sure on, but went with it would be ok, since I wasn't sure if he was affected by spell cards that didn't specifically target him alone. True, the recycling part makes Gozaburo harder to beat and seems to take all of the monsters the others have treasured forever become dark creatures. Eh, he didn't create the Legendary Demons, that's for sure. That was the last story in the series, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your kind reviews. I really appreciated all of them. And to any who read but didn't review, feel free to review and tell me what you think about the story. I won't bite your head off. Possibly… Lol, anyways, do feel free. I love hearing what people think.**

**At any rate, I'm done for today. I hope you all like the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Stats from previous chapter**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 7800**

**Seto: 7800**

**Marie: 6300**

**Yugi: 8800**

**Illidan: 4800**

**Gozaburo: 18100**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Elemental Hero Mariner (1400/1000), Neo-Spacian Twinkle Moss (500/1100)**

**Seto: Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) (d)**

**Marie: Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) (d)**

**Yugi: Red Gadget (1300/1500) (d)**

**Illidan: Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 (3000/1800)**

**Gozaburo: Blue-Eyes Black Dragon (3000/2500), Demoness Joan (2800/2000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: FD (x 2)**

**Seto: FD (x 2)**

**Marie: None**

**Yugi: None**

**Illidan: FD**

**Gozaburo: Tuner Calling (s), Azure Corona – The First Rift (s) (1 sc), Power Zone (fs), FD (x 3)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 0**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 3**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 2**

**Seto: 1**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 2**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 2**

**Seto: 2**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Chapter 50**

"I think I will!" Jaden declared while drawing a card, only to be struck by a surge of black energy.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo pointed at one of his face down cards, causing it to rise, saying "I activate my trap, Blitz Renewal. This trap can only be activated so long as I have a field spell in play, and if there is none, I receive 1000 life points of damage. Now whenever any of you take direct damage to your life points, my life points increase by that number."

Glaring at the robed duelist, young duelist grit out "Whatever, it's still my turn. I activate my face down spell, Convert Contact! With this, I send one Neo-Spacian from my hand and deck to the Graveyard, allowing me to draw two new cards."

Selecting a card from his hand and then pulling his deck out and picking another card, the young duelist showed them, saying "I send Neo-Spacians Dark Panther and Aqua Dolphin to my Graveyard."

Placing the cards into his Graveyard Slot, Jaden then drew two new cards and quickly said "I next activate the spell Cocoon Party, which allows me to special summon a monster with 'Chrysalis' in it's name from my deck for each Neo-Spacian in my Graveyard. Since I have three at the moment, I special summon three Cocoon monsters."

Pulling his deck out, the young duelist selected three cards and placed them horizontally onto his Duel Disk. The first creature to appear was a small red bird within a pink bubble that had sky blue colored eyes. Next to it, a pale colored caterpillar with ten small legs, green emerald eyes, and a single green horn on it's head formed within a pink bubble. The last creature to materialize was a brown colored mole like creature with green eyes within a pink bubble.

"Welcome to the field Chrysalis Chicky (600/400), Chrysalis Larva (300/300), and Chrysalis Mole (700/100). But don't get too overly attached to them, for I'm playing the spell Contact, which allows me to sacrifice them in order to special summon their Neo-Spacian forms from my deck or hand, so rise up Neo-Spacians Air Hummingbird (800/600) in defense, Flare Scarab (500/500), and Grand Mole (900/300)!"

One by one, the small creatures vanished, giving way for their adult forms. Replacing the small red bird was a red bird warrior with white wings on his back and clawed hands. Sticking his chest out, he planted his hands onto his hips, seemingly posing before dropping to a kneeling position.

Next to the bird warrior appeared a bug like warrior with wings on his back, covered by a thick hide, a chiseled body, a helmet that appeared to be like a horned beetle, and a human like face that extended to his neck.

The final creature to appear next to the bug warrior was a light orange mole like creature with drill like shoulder pads and sharp clawed hands and feet.

Folding his arms over his chest, Gozaburo smartly remarked "Summoning all of those creatures won't stop you from losing to me."

"We'll see." Jaden fiercely replied. "Now that Flare Scarab is on the field, his special ability activates. He gains 400 extra attack points for each spell or trap card on your field. Since you have all your slots full, that means he gains 2400 extra attack points (500 + 400 * 6 = 2900/500)!"

Flames immediately rose up around the weaker bug creature while it's strength increased. The flames soon fell, leaving the creature glowing with a light orange aura.

"Next, I activate Air Hummingbird's effect, allowing me to gain 500 life points per a card in your hand. Since you only have the one, that means I get a small power boost."

Launching itself into the air with it's white wings flapping, the red bird warrior moved before the robed figure, who glared at it. Without warning, a pink flower bloomed before the bird warrior, allowing it to suck out nectar from it. The young duelist's body immediately began glowing with a light green aura as his life points increased. Finishing up, the bird warrior returned to it's horizontal card image and took up it's kneeling stance once more.

"Time for me to go on the attack with Mariner, and since I still have a face down card, that means this is a direct attack. Go, Anchors Away!"

Leaping into the air, the light green skinned warrior drew back his right arm before thrusting it forward, sending the anchor that covered his right hand towards the robed figure. The anchor struck him on the shoulder this time, causing him to grit his teeth to keep from crying out in pain.

"Now Twinkle Moss's special ability kicks in. I draw!"

Picking up a card, Jaden smirked and turned it towards the robed figure, saying "Looks like I drew the spell Space Gift, meaning Twinkle Moss can direct attack!"

Quickly raising it's arm, the light green creature turned it's palm towards the robed duelist and released a strike of green energy, causing it's target to cringe lightly.

"_I could attack his Demoness Joan with Flare Scarab or Grand Mole, but his face downs have me worried. No need to push my luck I suppose._"

Displaying the card he had just added to his hand, Jaden calmly said "I activate Space Gift, which allows me to draw one card per a Neo-Spacian on my field. Since I have four, I get four new cards."

Picking up four cards, the young duelist examined them momentarily before selecting one and placing it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn." (Jaden = 8200, Seto = 7800, Marie = 6300, Yugi = 8800, Illidan = 4800; Gozaburo = 16300)

Silently drawing a card, Seto let out a slight hiss as he was struck by a blast of black energy from the dark blue star. Eyeing his new card, he slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I play X-Head Cannon (1800/1500) in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a blue and yellow machine robot with twin cannon barrels sticking out of it's chest. The robot appeared to be hovering above the ground on a small spiked ball structure, and clenched it's fists and crossed it's arms over it's chest while settling onto a horizontal card image.

"I'm done." (Jaden = 8200, Seto = 7700, Marie = 6300, Yugi = 8800, Illidan = 4800; Gozaburo = 16400)

Nodding, Marie drew her new card, only to be struck by a blast of black energy. Shrugging it off, she examined her new card. Contemplating it for a moment, she finally said "First off, during my Standby Phase, since Dancing Fairy was in defense mode, I gain a 1000 life points. Next, I'll summon White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) in defense."

Appearing onto the field in a small flash of light was a pink haired child that had twin ponytails sticking out from a golden goat like helmet with two horns on the side, green eyes, and wearing a white set of robes with intricate pink embroidered into it with a golden cape on her shoulders. In her small hands was a short cane like staff that had a glowing sphere on the end of it.

"To end, I'll place a face down card." (Jaden = 8200, Seto = 7700, Marie = 7200, Yugi = 8800, Illidan = 4800; Gozaburo = 16500)

"Then it's back to me." Yugi declared while picking up his new card, only to get struck by a blast of black energy once more. Ignoring the small bit of pain, the spike haired duelist glanced at his card and placed it into his left hand with his other cards. Selecting a different card, he slapped it onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) in defense mode."

Immediately forming onto the field was a yellow machine creature with a split silver gear on it's back, a gear going from it's mid-body to below his hips, spring like arms and legs, solid yellow hands and feet, and a single glowing green eye.

"I set a face down and am forced to end my turn." (Jaden = 8200, Seto = 7700, Marie = 7200, Yugi = 8700, Illidan = 4800; Gozaburo = 16600)

Deliberately drawing his card slowly, Illidan was prepared for the incoming blast of black energy, which he quickly shook off. Eyeing his new card, he glanced at his opponent's field and frowned.

"_Jaden could have attacked Gozaburo's monsters with Grand Mole and Flare Scarab, but he chose not to. I'd be willing to bet he's thinking the same thing I am, that those face downs of Gozaburo's are some kind of traps to take out our monsters. I could let well enough be as is, but doing so would be foolish since Gozaburo's field will only grow in size next turn. And at the least, I can force him to use up a few cards to stop me._"

"Are you going to make a move today, Illidan!?" Gozaburo questioned in a mocking tone.

Smirking, Illidan replied "I'd be careful what you ask for. Horus, take to the sky and take out Demoness Joan with Darkness Flame!"

Spreading it's wings wide and flapping them twice, the large silver dragon took to the air and let out a mighty screech as it reared back it's head. Dark flames immediately began licking the edges of it's mouth. Throwing it's head forward, the dragon released a stream of searing hot black flames at the female demon, who only stared at the attack with a wicked smile.

"You've become impatient since I last saw you, Illidan." the robed duelist admonished. "If you had looked my field over, you'd have seen I had two face down cards, in which I activate one of them, the trap Mask of Weakness! Thanks to this card, your dragon loses 700 attack points (3000 – 700 = 2300/1800)!"

Forming onto the chest of the silver dragon instantly was a mask with five ivory bones sticking out in a star formation, that had blue, red, and purple in it's coloring. It had a pair of eyes, along with a disconnected jaw. The dragon's body immediately glowed with a red aura, causing it's black flame stream to shrink in size.

Smirking slightly, Illidan coolly replied "Nice try Gozaburo, but I was ready for that! From my hand, I activate the quick play spell Rush Recklessly! Thanks to this card, my dragon gains 700 extra attack points for this turn alone, meaning his strength is right back to where it was (2300 + 700 = 3000/1800)!"

"Oh no you don't, Illidan! I reveal my counter trap, Magic Drain. With this trap, you are forced to either discard a spell card from your hand to negate my trap, or my trap will negate your spell card. So, which will it be?" Gozaburo questioned.

Gritting his teeth while looking at his hand, Illidan ground out "I have no spell card to discard, so my card is negated (3000 – 700 = 2300/1800)."

Sighing lightly, the robed duelist coolly said "I was hoping to keep you in this duel till the end and force you to suffer through the loss of all of your friends, but it looks like I won't be able to do that. For you see, when Demoness Joan destroys a monster in battle, her effect deals you damage equal to your monster's attack points. And then there is my Power Zone, which will deal the same amount of damage to you. Those two combined will deliver 4600 life points of damage. Coupled with the Battle Damage you'll receive, which is 500 points, you'll lose this duel and be sent into the Shadows. It's a shame that I won't get to see your torment last longer, but that is the price you shall pay for your impatience."

Gritting his teeth, Illidan stared wide eyed as his dragon's black flames were dispersed and the demoness charged towards the silver dragon. She cackled evilly and drew back her right hand before smashing it into the dragon's chest, causing it to howl out in pain. The dragon lightly growled out in pain before exploding, sending debris flying towards it's master. Just as the debris was about to hit the brown haired duelist, a blue barrier suddenly appeared before his body, saving him from the debris.

Furious, the robed duelist scanned the field and found the source of the barrier immediately in the form of a smirking female duelist. "What did you do!?" Gozaburo demanded.

Giggling innocently, Marie smartly replied "I simply protected my husband with the trap Hallowed Life Barrier. By simply discarding the card I held, all damage that he would have had dealt to him this turn was reduced to zero."

"Why you…" Gozaburo ground out with anger flashing in his eyes.

Casting a small glance at his wife, the brown haired duelist warmly said "Thanks for your help, Marie."

Returning his vision to the field, Illidan placed the remaining card he held onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "To end my turn, I'll set a monster." (Jaden = 8200, Seto = 7700, Marie = 7200, Yugi = 8700, Illidan = 4700; Gozaburo = 16700)

Glaring at his opponents, the robed figure drew his card and watched as five blasts of black energy was fired from the dark blue star. Each of his opponents cringed lightly from the strike while his life points increased. Without a word, he slapped a card to his Duel Disk. Forming onto the field immediately was the bronze colored sphere of ooze.

"With Changeling (0/0) back, I can activate Tuner Calling, allowing me to special summon Krebons (1200/400)."

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area all at once, while green holographic one's and zero's appeared also. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green computer eyes flashed across the black visor that covered the creature's face, while golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the creature's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet of the creature were covered in thin, sock like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"Next, I activate Changeling's effect, allowing me to transform it into a new monster. I choose your Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6, Illidan!"

Instantly, the bronze colored sphere of ooze began morphing. Glowing with a lightly orange glow, the ooze took the shape of the eagle like silver dragon and let out a low screech.

"And now that I have both monsters, I perform another Synchro Summon, merging both Krebons and Changeling to create Stardust Dragon (2500/2000)!"

Transforming into a pair of glowing orbs, the two orbs swirled together, creating a blinding white light. The light soon died down, revealing a white dragon with a pair of mighty white skin wings, muscular arms and legs, sharp clawed hands and feet, a blade like axe on it's tail, purple pecks and shoulder pads, an elongated head, and three slicked back horns on it's head that were somewhat thin and a single horn on it's nose. The dragon released a mighty roar, seemingly attempting to frighten all on the field.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly said "And now, it's time I make you pay for your interference between Illidan and myself, my dearest Marie. Crush her pathetic Pikeru now Stardust Dragon with Star Stream!"

Roaring loudly, the white dragon drew back it's head and opened it's jaws. Glowing dust began filling it's maw as it launched a stream of flaming sparkling energy.

Before the blast could hit, Seto called out "Think again, step father! I play the trap Attack Guidance Armor, which allows me to redirect your attack to any monster on our fields that I choose. I choose my own Peten the Dark Clown!"

Forming on the body of the clown was a set of dull gray armor, which he immediately pat due to the snug fit. Instantly, the beam of dust switched directions radically and moved towards the clown. The beam struck it hard, shattering the clown creature, who let out a small yelp of pain.

"And now that Peten has been destroyed, I can activate my other trap, Crush Card Virus! This card is activated when I lose a Dark Attribute monster that had less than 1000 attack points. Now a devastating virus is let loose onto your field, hand, and deck, which will destroy all monsters with 1500 or more attack points! Whatever advantage you had before is now gone!"

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly replied "You are so predictable, Seto. Don't think I was unprepared for your little trap card. I activate the effect of Stardust Dragon, allowing me to sacrifice it in order to negate the effect of your trap card!"

Watching the white dragon vanish from the field, Seto couldn't help but growl in frustration, muttering "He countered my trap…"

"That's right, step son." the robed duelist smartly stated. "And next, the effect of Power Zone activates for the destruction of your little clown card. So you now lose the attack points of your card from your life points!"

Streaking out of the sky and striking the duelist in the white trench coat, the duelist released a might cry of pain and staggered backwards a step before regaining his composure.

"And next, the effect of Blitz Renewal kicks in, granting me the life points you lost. Finally, the effect of Azure Corona activates, allowing it to gain another Spell Counter, giving it two."

Glaring at his step father, Seto grit out "That may be, but you forget, Peten has effect of his own to be played. By removing him from play, I can special summon another Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) from my deck, which I'll place in defense."

Upon slapping the new card onto his Duel Disk horizontally, the duelist in the white trench coat watched a new clown monster appear onto his field and stick it's tongue out at it's opponent.

"You may have brought out a new creature, but it won't matter." Gozaburo smartly remarked. "I shall prove that to you now, for you have gained my focus, so I'll crush you. Go Joan, destroy his X-Head Cannon with Purity Claw Swipe!"

Quickly crossing the field at an insane speed, the female demon drew back her right hand and opened it up so her claw was ready. Reaching the blue and yellow machine creature, she threw her right hand forward, allowing it to puncture the robot creature. The robot wailed for a moment before exploding, sending debris flying back and smacking it's master in the chest.

"When Joan destroys a monster in battle, you lose life points equal to that monster's attack points. And the worst is yet to come, my dear step son, for you lose more life points thanks to Power Zone. Not to mention, I gain life points thanks to Blitz Renewal."

Without warning, a bolt of lightning flew down from the sky once more and struck the duelist in his white trench coat, making him scream out in agony. Wisps of smoke poured off of his body as he barely remained standing.

"Not falling, eh? I think Blue-Eyes Black Dragon can fix that. Annihilate his Peten with Black Lightning!"

Releasing a might roar, the black dragon raised it's head and opened up it's maw. Black energy immediately began licking it's lips as it shot a beam of black energy at the weaker clown creature. The blast blew away the clown, leaving behind only a plume of smoke from it's destruction.

"And lest you forget, Power Zone now takes away more of your life points for the loss of your monster!"

Falling from the sky immediately was a bolt of lightning that struck the barely standing duelist, making him scream out in pain once more. The lightning soon faded, revealing the duelist was seemingly in a daze. A moment passed and he suddenly fell forward onto the ground with a loud thud.

"SETO!" Yugi called out with concern on his face.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly remarked "Looks like he couldn't take the full effect of this duel. Too bad, I had hoped to be the one to crush him and send him into the Shadows."

"I… wouldn't… count… on it." a winded voice spoke up.

Looking, the robed duelist saw his step son slowly standing once more, with great difficulty. On his feet at last, the duelist weakly said "I activate Peten's effect, allowing me to remove it from play and special summon another one from my deck, which goes in defense."

Appearing onto the field in a flash was a similar looking clown monster, who once more stuck his tongue out at his opponent.

Sneering, the robed duelist coolly said "No matter, I'll crush you in the end. Now then, Azure Corona's effect kicks in, giving it another Spell Counter, leaving it with a total of four. Next, I activate the spell Synchro Draw. For each Synchro Summon I have completed, I draw one card. As of now, I have had three summons, so I draw three cards."

Picking up three new cards, the robed duelist selected one card and placed it into his Duel Disk, saying "I activate the spell Twilight Corona – The Second Rift."

Forming on the field next to the dark stars was a gash of darkness. The entire area around it suddenly turned gray for a moment, but it soon was restricted to the space on the field of the robed figure. The gash seemed to have a patch of gray cloth covering it, allowing fluttering wind to blow out from it. It gave off a sinister atmosphere, seemingly making the five duelists a bit uneasy about it.

"Twilight Corona can only be on the field so long as Azure Corona is out. Next, it deals one of my opponents 600 points of damage, while Blitz Renewal grants me 600 life points. The one to suffer is you, Jaden!"

Before the young duelist could say a thing, a blast of gray energy struck him, making him grimace in pain as his life points dropped.

"I lay a face down card and move to my End Phase, which activates the effect of Changeling. It now returns to my hand."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist took the card that was ejected and added it to his left hand. Before the group could do or say anything, without warning, the form of the large white dragon that had three slicked back horns reappeared with a mighty roar.

"Wait, how did that get back onto the field!?" Illidan asked in confusion.

Smirking, Gozaburo smartly replied "The effect of Stardust Dragon is far more than just allowing itself to be destroyed to negate a spell, trap, or monster card that destroys a card. Yes, for when I use that effect, I can resurrect it to the field during the same End Phase."

"Just great…" the brown haired duelist ground out.

"I end my turn. Now come and fight me, fools!" (Jaden = 7500, Seto = 3000, Marie = 7100, Yugi = 8600, Illidan = 4600; Gozaburo = 23300)

Picking up a new card, Jaden's eyes widened as a blast of black energy raced towards him and struck him square in the chest, causing him to cringe from the fresh pain. Growling lightly, he examined his new card before saying "It's time I took down those monsters of yours! I'll start my turn by activating Air Hummingbird's effect, allowing me to gain life points in intervals of 500 per a card in your hand. Since you hold two, I gain 1000 life points!"

Flapping it's wings twice, the red bird warrior quickly cross the field and came to a stop with four feet between himself and the robed duelist. Pink flowers immediately sprouted before the duelist, causing the red bird warrior to move forward and suck out nectar from each flower. A green glow immediately enveloped the young duelist, causing his life points to rise. Finishing up with sucking the nectar, the bird returned to it's horizontal card image and took up a kneeling stance once more.

"Next, I sacrifice Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird and Elemental Hero Mariner to summon Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Both the light green skinned warrior and the red bird warrior vanished from the field immediately. A moment passed before a flash of light filled the air above the young duelist's field. From the flash, a powerful white warrior with a slicked back horn on his head and spikes coming out from his elbow joints touched down onto the ground. He had a bit of red lining on his body, along with a bit of blue as well. On his chest was a blue circle.

"I'm not done yet, for I activate the spell O – Oversoul! This allows me to special summon one Normal Type Elemental Hero from my Graveyard to the field, and I'm reviving Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)!"

A small electrical storm without warning flared up, from which the blue and gold warrior with wing like structures on his back reappeared.

"And now, I'm hooking Sparkman up with an equip spell called Spark Blaster!"

Forming in front of the blue and gold warrior instantly was a black gun with several wires hanging off of it. Reaching out, the warrior took hold of the blaster with his right hand, causing the wires to come to life and connect to his right arm.

"With Spark Blaster, I can switch the mode of a monster on the field. It has a maximum of changing the mode of a monster up to three turns, after which it goes to the Graveyard. Now I'll use Spark Blaster to switch the mode of your Blue-Eyes Black Dragon, Demoness Joan, and Stardust Dragon to defense!"

Watching in shock, the robed duelist saw his black dragon, the female demon, and the white dragon struggling to remain standing. The three continued to struggle till finally the demon took up a kneeling stance, while the two dragons pulled in their wings and crossed their arms.

"Since I used up all of Spark Blaster's effect, it goes to the Graveyard, but I'm not done yet, for I play the spell H – Heated Heart! Thanks to this spell, Sparkman's attack points grow by 500 for this turn alone, plus he can now deal Trample Damage (1600 + 500 = 2100/1400)!"

Forming before the spell card image in a flash was a blue capital letter 'h'. The letter slowly touched the back of the blue and gold warrior, whose strength immediately shot up.

"Time to mow down your field! The first strike is yours Neos, so go take down his Stardust Dragon with Cosmic Crush!"

Releasing a small battle cry, the white warrior quickly raced across the field and leapt into the air. Coming downwards, he drew back his right hand into a tightly clenched fist. Rainbow colored energy encircled it as he launched it forward and plunged it into the head of the white dragon. The dragon immediately released a mighty roar of pain before shattering, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke in it's wake.

"And thanks to your own Power Zone card, you now lose life points equal to your dragon's attack points!"

Thunder instantly boomed over head as a streak of lightning poured out of the sky and struck the robed duelist, who released a light growl of pain while his life points sank.

"Flare Scarab, take out Blue-Eyes Black Dragon with Flaming Arrow!"

Leaping straight up into the air, the bug warrior held out his two hands before his body. Flames came to life between his hands in the shape of a sphere. Opening his hands and launching the sphere forward, the bug warrior released a flaming arrow head towards the defending black dragon. The flames engulfed the dragon fully, causing it to howl out in pain before shattering.

"Now you take more damage due to your own Power Zone!"

Lightning instantly poured from the sky and struck the robed figure, making him howl in pain as his life points dropped dramatically. He took a small step backwards as wisps of smoke poured off of his body.

"I'm far from done, for now, Sparkman is about to attack your Joan! Hit her with Static Shockwave!"

Drawing back his left hand, the blue and gold warrior launched it back forward with his left hand open. Bolts of light blue energy went racing forward and struck the kneeling demoness, causing her to scream out in pain before exploding, leaving a cloud of smoke in her wake. Cutting through the smoke in a flash was a bolt of lightning, causing the robed duelist to scream out in pain before falling to one knee.

Pointing at the robed duelist, who was lightly panting while sitting on a single knee, Jaden declared "It's time I got in another hit, so Grand Mole, direct attack!"

"Not quite, you impudent little brat! I have had enough of your foolishness, so I activate the trap Mirage Ruler! It's effect is activated when all of my monsters were destroyed in one turn. They are automatically revived to my field as they were during the Standby Phase, plus my life points also are restored to their original value!" the robed duelist snarled while standing.

Forming onto the field instantly was the black dragon, along with the white dragon, and the demoness. At the same time, the life points of the robed duelist grew back to their original score.

"No way…" Jaden murmured while staring at the three returned monsters. Clenching his right fist, he grit out "I can still attack with Twinkle Moss, so I draw a card!"

Picking up a card, the young duelist eyed it before saying "The card I just drew is the monster Necro Guardna. Since it's a monster, my Battle Phase ends due to Twinkle Moss's effect. Also, since you used up a trap card, Flare Scarab loses 400 attack points (2500/500). To end my turn, I switch Grand Mole to defense and end my turn." (Jaden = 8100, Seto = 3000, Marie = 7100, Yugi = 8600, Illidan = 4600; Gozaburo = 23700)


	53. Chapter 51: Fight for the Future, Pt 3

**Hey gang! So, life for me is just as fun as ever. I finally finished my project at work this week, at long last, after many angered thoughts over the guy who had me change the code, but it's done regardless. Our company's owners also came down Wednesday, so I lost pretty much a day of work, but not big deal to me. We also met the House of Representative that got us our jobs here in WV the same day. Her name is Shelly Moore Capito, and I'm quite thankful she did get the funding for the place where I work. It's been loads of fun there. She seemed nice enough. Other than that, life has been just about as normal as ever, and busy, lol. Oh well, that happens.**

**Writing wise, I'm trying to find time to continue work on these chapters, but time gets harder and harder to find anymore. Still, my goal is to finish this story within the next month or two. I'm thinking probably early next month, it may end. That is a big maybe, but we'll see I suppose. My other writing hasn't been moving much either, with me writing a paragraph here and there.**

**Moving along, it's review time!**

**Vyser Dragon: It's all good about not reviewing. I understand, people have lives and can't read or review all the time, so don't worry about it. Believe it or not, I have the same trouble at times, lol. Glad you like the Synchro monsters, and how I've done this duel thus far. Sorry to crush your dreams, but there is not going to be a Yugioh 5d's storyline. Once this story ends, that's the end of the line for the Illidan and Marie series. I have toyed with an idea to move past it, but alas, I don't think I will. We'll see though. Thank you for your review!**

**The Rainwalker: Yep, you spelled it right, hehe. Ah, so you read a lot and critique, which is always good. Cool about aspiring to write. It's always good to reach for dreams. Lol, it's all good about the relaxed college skills. I know mine have, though I only went to school for Computer Science and didn't have to go too far into English classes. Like only 3 levels or so, which was great, because my skills at English suck, lol. I like tough comments actually, it helps me in fixing any flaws I have developed, or at least work on fixing them. Heh, family friendly language is good, though I don't mind. I tend to have kept all of my Yugioh stories within friendliness levels, I guess due that was the way the English translations were. Glad to hear you've read since the beginning of the series. Illidan and Marie are both very interesting, with the personalities somewhat changing over the course of the series. Thanks about the original cards. All I can say is I tried with them, lol. I try to keep the story moving along at a reasonable pace, plot wise, and posting wise. Yeah, Mai and Joey belonged together, it was just meant to be. Most of the pairings you have sound good, though Seto and Serenity is a bit interesting, and who is Miho btw? Lol, nice comment on how Gozaburo is, hehe. But yeah, Gozaburo doesn't know when to just stay in the grave, and he is pressing the others pretty hard. You know, you're right, there are no really handicapped duelists within Yugioh. Serenity was blind, but she could see after a while. Hmm, that would be interesting to have someone with some kind of handicap dueling. Lol, I'm actually a West Virginian, but close enough, hehe. Thanks for the review, I really appreciated it!**

**Okami Princess: True, Gozaburo using Stardust Dragon seems so wrong on many levels, but it happened. Don't know much about 5d's thoughts on how the cards are used, but oh well. Unpredictability is my middle name, lol. Actually, it's Andrew, but close enough. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: LOL! So true, Mirage Ruler is over powered, but it saved Gozaburo's bacon. It was played by Yugi in the show during his duel with Yami, though they associated a cost of 1000 life points, but when I found the card, it had no cost, so I don't know who's right. Jaden is about the only one able to get to Gozaburo's life points, mostly due to direct attacks. Still, the others are hanging in there with him. I'm sure they'll take up the offensive soon enough. True, he does owe that much to Yubel. Yeah, I thought about the 600 points going to everyone, but I messed it up and chose one person. My bad on that one. Heh, actually, I didn't make the card either, but I may have messed up the effect that ardee wanted for it, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I really appreciated them. I know I say that every week, but I really mean it. Without reviews, I can't gauge how this story is doing. It helps in me fixing errors, and knowing where the story should head to. And to any who haven't reviews, I encourage you to. I really enjoy reading them and responding, no matter what you say.**

**At any rate, I need to run. I have a birthday dinner to get to (my dad's). I hope you all like this new chapter. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Duel Stats**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 8100**

**Seto: 3000**

**Marie: 7100**

**Yugi: 8600**

**Illidan: 4600**

**Gozaburo: 23700**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Neo-Spacian Twinkle Moss (500/1100), Neo-Spacian Grand Mole (900/300) (d), Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab (2500/500), Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000), Elemental Hero Sparkman (1600/1400)**

**Seto: Peten the Dark Clown (500/1200) (d)**

**Marie: Dancing Fairy (1700/1000) (d), White Magician Pikeru (1200/0) (d)**

**Yugi: Red Gadget (1300/1500) (d), Yellow Gadget (1200/1200) (d)**

**Illidan: FD (d)**

**Gozaburo: Blue-Eyes Black Dragon (3000/2500), Demoness Joan (2800/2000), Stardust Dragon (2500/2000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: FD (x 2)**

**Seto: None**

**Marie: None**

**Yugi: FD**

**Illidan: FD**

**Gozaburo: Tuner Calling (s), Azure Corona – The First Rift (s) (4 sc), Power Zone (fs), Blitz Renewal (t), Twilight Corona – The Second Rift (s) (0 sc)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 2**

**Seto: 0**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 3**

**Illidan: 0**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 5**

**Seto: 1**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 2**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 2**

**Seto: 0**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 0**

**Chapter 51**

Snapping off a new card, Seto examined his card momentarily before crying out in pain from the blast of black energy smacking him in the chest. Cringing lightly, he glared at his step father before turning the card he'd drawn towards his step father, saying "I activate the spell Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up two more cards."

Drawing two cards, the duelist in the white trench coat smirked and slapped a card to his Duel Disk. "I summon Kaibaman (200/700)!"

A human looking monster slowly began materializing onto the field. His attire consisted of black leather pants, a white trench coat, a long black sleeved shirt that ran down to his black spiked tipped gloves, a red vest, long butt length red hair that flowed freely behind him, and a white dragon shaped helmet that covering his head. The resemblance the monster bore of the duelist in a white trench coat was the most shocking thing of all though.

"I activate Kaibaman's special ability, allowing me to sacrifice him to summon my mightiest monster! Rise up Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

With the human warrior vanishing, a new white dragon with metallic looking scales appeared onto the field. Releasing a mighty roar, the dragon turned all of it's anger towards the black version of itself.

"It's time I showed you what it means to disrespect my Blue-Eyes, Gozaburo!" Seto yelled out with fire in his eyes. "Blue-Eyes, annihilate his weakling Stardust Dragon with White Lightning!"

Again roaring loudly, the white metallic dragon opened it's maw, revealing crackling light blue energy. Without hesitation, the dragon unleashed a beam of light blue energy that easily struck the weaker white dragon across the field, causing it to howl in pain before exploding.

"And now thanks to your own sick field spell, you take damage for losing your dragon!"

Thunder boomed overhead of the duel before a bolt of lightning poured out of the sky and struck the robed duelist, who cried out in pain and took an unsteady step backwards, but managed to keep from falling.

"I end my move." (Jaden = 8100, Seto = 2600, Marie = 7100, Yugi = 8600, Illidan = 4600; Gozaburo = 21100)

"Nicely done, Seto." Marie warmly congratulated. Steeling her eyes, she drew her card and readied herself for the incoming blast of black energy. The blast made her cringe in pain, but she managed to hide most of it.

"To start things off, Dancing Fairy grants me an additional 1000 life points. Then there is Pikeru, who grants me an additional 400 life points per a monster on my field. Right now, I only have two, so I gain 800 life points."

Selecting a card from her hand, the female duelist gently placed it onto her Duel Disk, saying "In the meantime, I set this monster. That's it for me." (Jaden = 8100, Seto = 2600, Marie = 8500, Yugi = 8600, Illidan = 4600; Gozaburo = 21500)

Nodding, Yugi prepared to draw a new card, but stopped. Pointing at his face down card, he calmly said "Before I start, I activate my trap card, Stronghold the Moving Fortress. This trap is not only a trap card, but a monster (0/2000), which is automatically special summoned to my field in defense upon being played."

Rising up out of the ground with steam shooting out of a small set of smoke stacks on it's left shoulder was a dull gray metal machine creature with numerous gears covering it's body, a single gear for an eye, three large empty slots where gears apparently went, and a gear in each hand. The creature immediately took up a kneeling stance and crossed it's arms.

Drawing his card, the spike haired duelist allowed the blast of black energy to strike his body, but not before cringing slightly. Gathering himself up, he firmly said "I summon Green Gadget (1400/600) in defense mode."

Forming onto the field immediately was a green machine creature with a single gear in it's mid body, with gears also forming onto it's shoulders. The creature had seemingly only shoulders and a head with a single eye, green feet, and two small green fists. Fully on the field, the creature took up a kneeling stance.

"Now I've completed my Gadget combo."

"What are you babbling about?" Gozaburo grumbled. "The only thing you've done from what I can see if summon four weaklings."

Smirking, the spike haired duelist smartly replied "We'll see. In the meantime, I'm switching Stronghold into attack mode."

Standing up, the large machine creature took up an offensive stance before the two smoke stack on it's back began pouring out steam.

"Now Stronghold, attack his Demoness Joan with Steel Gear Crush!"

"Wait, you're attacking me with a monster that has zero attack points!?" Gozaburo declared in shock.

Not answering, the spike haired duelist watched as the large machine creature took a few steps forward and drew back it's right arm. Clenching it's right hand into a fist, the machine creature launched it's right fist forward at the sneering demoness.

Before the attack could connect, the red, yellow, and green gadget creatures vanished, only to reappear in the slots on the large machine creature's chest. Without warning, the gears on the machine monster began rapidly spinning, sending more power to it's fist. The creature easily struck the female demon, crushing her instantly and causing smoke to fill the field. Lightning immediately struck the robed duelist, causing him to scream out in pain and fall to one knee again.

Panting lightly, the robed duelist ground out "How did your junk heap beat my Joan!?"

"That's kind of easy to explain." Yugi smartly remarked. "Whenever Red, Yellow, and Green Gadgets are all on the field, Stronghold's attack points increase to 3000 (0 + 3000 = 3000/2000). That's why he beat your weaker Demoness Joan."

Placing a card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, the spike haired duelist added "I'll place a face down card. That's all for me." (Jaden = 8100, Seto = 2600, Marie = 8500, Yugi = 8200, Illidan = 4600; Gozaburo = 18900)

Wordlessly drawing a card, Illidan was more than ready when the blast of black energy struck him in the chest. Shrugging it off, he eyed his card for a moment before grabbing the horizontal monster card on his Duel Disk and flipped it over and turning it vertical.

"I'll start things off by Flip Summoning my Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400/1000)."

Materializing onto the field was a black stream engine with black coal smoke pouring out of it's chimney. It had a strange, evil looking face painted on the front of it, with fangs poking out of it's mouth and an evil set of eyes.

"When flipped, I can automatically draw one additional card."

Picking up a new card, the brown haired duelist slightly smirked, saying "I sacrifice Dekoichi to summon my Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"

Vanishing from the field in a flash, the black locomotive disappeared. Taking it's place was a large dark orange skin dragon with dull grey armor covering it's body, stubby wings, a tail that had a spiked mace ball on it's tip, and clawed hands covered by metal gloves. The dragon let out a small roar in an attempt to instill fear into it's enemy, but failed miserably.

"Why bother summoning that wretched creature? It's too weak to fight my Blue-Eyes Black Dragon." Gozaburo pointedly remarked.

Nodding, Illidan smirked, replying with "True, but who said I was done? You see, I didn't summon it to beat your dragon. I summoned it so I could place Dekoichi into my Graveyard, giving me exactly what I need to take that dragon down."

"Wait, you mean…" the robed duelist began, only to be interrupted by the brown haired duelist, who said "That's right, I am saying that I wanted Dekoichi in my Graveyard so I could remove him, along with my Mirage Dragon. I put Mirage Dragon in there at the same time as I placed my stronger version of Horus. Now I remove from play both Mirage Dragon and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive in order to call to my field Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)!"

A slight shimmer appeared on the field and from it came a warrior with black ebony shiny armor with a mixture of gold trim, as well as a few blotches of red, mostly around his helmet. In his right hand was a powerful bronze colored sword, and in his left was a strong shield with black and gold coloring. On his shoulders were two golden backward sweeping spikes. His face had a light shade of green. The helmet that protected his head had three flowing spikes pointing behind him, and coming out from under it in the back was a braid of brown hair.

Growling lightly at the sight of the black armored warrior, the robed duelist ground out "Him…"

"That's right, him." Illidan firmly confirmed. "I activate the effect of Black Luster Soldier! By not attacking, he can remove from play one monster on the field, and my choice is obviously your Blue-Eyes Black Dragon!"

Pushing his shield forward slightly, the warrior's shield began glowing with a brilliant white glow. Without warning, a blast of white energy was released from the shield and slammed into the black dragon, making it roar out in pain before shattering into nothingness.

"Now that nothing is in your way Armed Dragon, direct attack with Infernal Rage!"

Stamping across the field with it's two arms spinning rapidly, the dragon slashed the robed duelist across the chest, causing him to scream out in pain before falling to one knee.

Smirking at the struggling duelist, Illidan firmly said "Looks like that knocked you down a few pegs. I end my move." (Jaden = 8100, Seto = 2600, Marie = 8500, Yugi = 8200, Illidan = 4200; Gozaburo = 16900)

Loudly snarling, Gozaburo roared "YOU WILL NOT MAKE A FOOL OF ME!"

With his words said, the robed duelist drew his card, causing five blasts of black energy to be launched. The blasts impacted each of the five duelists, making a few cry out in pain.

"Thanks to Blitz Renewal, I gain points equal to all the destruction of my spell card! And now, I summon Changeling (0/0), allowing me to play the effect of Tuner Calling. With it, I shall select a new Tuner Type monster!"

While the bronze colored orb of ooze appeared onto the field, the robed duelist began searching through his deck. After a moment, he selected a card and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. In an enraged voice, he said "I summon Krebons (1200/400)!"

Yellow, transparent cubes flickered about the area all at once, while green holographic one's and zero's appeared and did the same. Some began forming pieces of a blue and yellow armored body, and cylinder-shaped head. Sinister, green computer eyes flashed across the black visor that covered the creature's face, while golden and blue patterns ran up the rest of the creature's helmet. Yellow teeth shot an equally dastardly smirk. The feet were covered in thin, sock like hoppers, and white and blue gloves with golden fingers were on the creature's arms.

"With that, I'll use Changeling's effect and transform into Horus the Black Flamed Dragon LV6!"

Morphing instantly, the bronze colored ooze began transforming into the shape of the eagle like silver dragon.

"And now, I begin a Synchro Summon, so I merge Krebons and Horus, to create Red Dragon Archfiend (3000/2000)!"

Both monsters instantly transformed into a pair of glowing orbs and suddenly began swirling together, creating a blinding white light. The light soon died down, revealing a black and dark red dragon that stood on two legs, with a sharp blade on it's tail, clawed hands and feet, large muscular legs and arms, a pair of dark red skin wings with two spikes at the top of each wing, an elongated neck, and three horns on it's head with one sticking up and two curved ones with one on each side, and glowing red eyes.

"Next, I play Pot of Greed, allowing me to pick up two cards."

Drawing his two cards, the robed duelist smirked at them and turned one of the cards at his opponent, saying "I activate the spell Lightning Vortex. Thanks to this spell, I send one card to my Graveyard and destroy all face up monsters on your fields."

Upon the robed duelist placing his chosen card into his Graveyard Slot, bolts of lightning rained down from the sky and slammed into all of the creatures on the field, shattering each and every last one before the five duelists and leaving a cloud of smoke covering the field.

"Damn, we're all wide open!" Seto growled in frustration.

Casting a quick glance at his friend, Illidan firmly said "Don't panic."

"We're sitting ducks out here!" Jaden yelled. "That's more than enough reason to panic."

"I hate to interrupt this conversation, but my dragon has a need to devour one of you. For you see, Seto, you are wide open." Gozaburo pointedly declared.

Seeing Seto clench his hands tightly, the robed duelist firmly said "Finish him now, Red Dragon Archfiend, with Infernal Fireball. Farewell, step son."

Roaring loudly, the black and red dragon opened it's jaws wide and spat out a devilishly red fireball at the duelist in a white trench coat. Staring at the incoming attack, the duelist couldn't help but hang his head in defeat.

"Not so fast, Gozaburo!" Jaden declared. "I reveal my trap, Negate Attack! This not only stops your attack, but ends your Battle Phase!"

Watching the attack vanish, the robed duelist shrugged and slid one of two remaining cards he held into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "No matter, I end my turn, meaning Changeling returns to my hand." (Jaden = 7700, Seto = 2200, Marie = 8100, Yugi = 7800, Illidan = 3800; Gozaburo = 18900)

Drawing his new card, the young duelist had to quickly shield his body from the incoming blast of black energy. Gritting his teeth, Jaden looked at his new card and calmly said "I start out by summoning Card Trooper (400/400) in defense mode."

Appearing onto the field in sparkling light was a tank like robot with a pair of red blast arms, a red round cylinder chest, a blue tank bottom, and a glass head that housed many circuits. Upon fully appearing, the robot crossed it's arms.

"Now I play his special ability. By sending the top cards on my deck to my Graveyard, I can increase Card Trooper's attack points by 500 per a card for the duration of this turn. At max, I can send three, so I send the top three to my Graveyard, raising his points by 1500 (400 + 500 * 3 = 1900/400)."

While the young duelist picked up the top three cards from his deck, the small robot creature's body glowed to life as it's strength increased.

"That was pointless." Gozaburo remarked.

"Maybe so, but you'll see the significance soon enough. Next up, I play the spell Monster Reincarnation! With this, I toss out one card from my hand and return another to my hand. I send Necro Guardna to the Grave to return Elemental Hero Neos to my hand."

Placing the lone card into his Graveyard Slot, the young duelist watched it get sucked in and the slot slowly push out the monster card. Adding it back to his hand, he coolly said "I'm done, meaning Card Trooper's points go back down (400/400)." (Jaden = 7300, Seto = 2200, Marie = 8100, Yugi = 7800, Illidan = 3800; Gozaburo = 19300)

Glaring at his step father, the duelist in the white trench coat drew his next card, causing a blast of black energy to strike him in the chest. Without warning, the proud duelist sank to one knee while panting lightly. Rising up quickly, he ground out "I will not lose to you!"

"Not by the looks of this duel, Seto." Gozaburo smugly countered.

Grinding his teeth together, Seto glanced at his card and firmly said "I activate the spell Card of Demise, allowing me to draw till I hold five cards! But in five of my Standby Phases, I must discard my entire hand."

Snapping off five new cards, the duelist in the white trench coat eyed his cards before selecting one and slapping it to his Duel Disk, saying "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000)."

A slimy silver looking creature with thousands and thousands of hands sprouted out everywhere throughout it's body appeared onto the field with a small grunt.

"When summoned, Manju's effect kicks off. He lends me a hand and allows me to transfer any Ritual Spell or Monster from my deck to my hand. My choice is a Ritual Spell, more specifically White Dragon Ritual!"

Pulling his deck out and sifting through it, the duelist in the white trench coat found the desired card and added it to his hand. Shuffling his deck, he returned it to it's slot and slightly smirked.

"I activate the spell White Dragon Ritual, and in order to use it, I must sacrifice a monster or monsters equaling level four. Luckily for me, Manju fits the bill, seeing how he's a level four monster. With his sacrifice, I summon Paladin of White Dragon (1900/1200)!"

A white dragon with large golden eyes and large warrior on it's back with white armor, cape, and a powerful sword and shield then appeared on the field. The warrior had greenish skin, but his face was hidden by a helmet that covered all but his chin and mouth.

"Don't get too used to him, for I activate his special ability! By sacrificing him, I can special summon from my deck my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500)!"

The warrior on the dragon's back instantly shattered, leaving the dragon alone. The dragon's eyes flashed blue and the smaller dragon instantly began to grow in age till it was much larger. It's wings spread wide, arm's increasing in size, along with it's feet. The new dragon was a familiar creature, with white metallic skin, powerful wings, sharp clawed hands and feet, and a mighty head. Fully on the field at last, the dragon released a mighty roar, seemingly challenging the dragon across the field to fight with it.

"I'm far from done, for I activate the spell Dragon's Mirror! By playing this, I can remove from play monsters in my Graveyard and field in order to summon a Dragon Type Fusion monster! I remove the two Blue-Eyes in my Graveyard, along with the one on the field, to form Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500/3800)!"

Materializing onto the field on each side of the white metallic dragon were two more metallic white dragons. All three let out a massive roar as a mirror formed behind the three. The mirror shot out a brilliant white light, engulfing the three and hiding them from view of the group. Soon enough, the light died down, revealing a much larger white metallic looking dragon with three heads, each with some kind of symbol on their foreheads. The three heads shared one body, which had a massive set of wings, powerful clawed hands and feet, and a massive tail. Each head let out a massive roar, shaking the very ground the duelists stood on.

Letting out a maniacal laugh, Seto pointed an accusing finger at his step father, saying "You mocked and underestimated me all along during this duel, Gozaburo, and now it's time to pay the price! I will stop you once and for all, so prepare to experience a true living hell! Blue-Eyes, blast his freak show dragon to the Graveyard where it belongs with Neutron Blast!"

Roaring loudly, the three heads of the massive dragon drew themselves up into full length. All three heads of the dragon opened their maws, revealing a brilliant white light flaring out from within it's mouth. As one, the three heads released a stream of white energy, which merged into one single stream. The large stream went racing towards the weaker dragon, who stood it's ground.

Sneering, Gozaburo smugly called out "Nice try Seto, but I activate my trap card! Go Heart of the Earthbound!"

Instantly, the black and red dragon glowed with a dark red aura. The white stream continued onwards and slammed into the dragon, making it howl out in pain and caused a massive explosion, sending dust and debris flying into the air, clouding up the robed duelist's field. Bit by bit, the dust settled, revealing the black and red dragon still stood while it's master sat on one knee.

"What's going on!?" the duelist in the white trench coat demanded. "That dragon should be pixels by now, so how could it survive!?"

"It's simple, Seto, my boy." Gozaburo commented while standing back up. "My Heart of the Earthbound trap card saved my dragon by inflicting twice the Battle Damage to my life points."

Seeing his step son growl with irritation, the robed duelist smirked, saying "But there is more to it than that. When I take twice the damage, Twilight Corona's effect activates. Whenever my Battle Damage is doubled, Twilight Corona gains a Spell Counter for every 100 points of damage I took. Since I just lost 3000 life points by your attack, that means Twilight Corona gains 30 Spell Counters."

"But the fun doesn't stop there, for I activate the next effect of Twilight Corona. By removing Spell Counters from it, I can reduce your dragon's attack points by 100 points per a counter. That means your dragon loses 3000 attack points (4500 – 3000 = 1500/3800). There is more mind you, for the effect of Azure Corona kicks in, reducing your life points by the amount of attack points your dragon loses. This is the end Seto, so farewell."

Lifting, the cloth covering the rift flapped open and fired a blast straight at the white dragon. At the same time, the blue star fired a blast of black energy straight at the duelist wearing the white trench coat.

Before the blasts were halfway across the field, Jaden called out "Hold on one minute, I activate my face down card, De-Fusion! This spell now splits Seto's dragon apart into it's original Fusion Material monsters, meaning your spells have no target to use their effect any longer!"

Darkly chuckling while watching the white dragon begin glowing, Gozaburo smugly said "That was nice of you to save Seto's life points, but you forget, he loses his only monster. You helped him only survive for this turn alone."

"Not quite, Gozaburo." Seto spoke up in a smart tone. "I chain Jaden's card with a spell of my own, Burial from a Different Dimension! With this, I can return up to three monsters from my removed from play pile back to my Graveyard. The three I choose are my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons (3000/2500), and since I just did that, the effect of De-Fusion will now return my dragons to the field!"

Just as the pair of blasts was about to hit the large three headed white dragon, the dragon vanished, causing the blasts to smash into the ground harmlessly. Reappearing onto the field a moment later were three large white dragons, each roaring loudly upon fully appearing.

"You are delaying the inevitable!" Gozaburo roared.

"We'll see." Seto remarked. "I set one card and end my turn." (Jaden = 7300, Seto = 1800, Marie = 8100, Yugi = 7800, Illidan = 3800; Gozaburo = 16700)

Picking up a new card, Marie let out a soft cry of pain as her life points was drained by a blast of black energy. Fiercely glaring at the robed duelist, she eyed her card before sliding it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I set this and end my turn." (Jaden = 7300, Seto = 1800, Marie = 7700, Yugi = 7800, Illidan = 3800; Gozaburo = 17100)

Drawing a new card, Yugi quickly readied himself for the incoming blast of black energy. The blast plowed into the spike haired duelist, who managed to keep from losing his footing. With light pants, he eyed his new card before placing the card onto his Duel Disk.

"I summon Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) in defense."

Forming instantly onto the field in a kneeling stance was a muscular man kneeling with incredibly long black hair, wearing a teal and purple shirt with no sleeves and orange pants. On the warrior's left arm was a large shield which he used to protect his body.

"I'm finished." (Jaden = 7300, Seto = 1800, Marie = 7700, Yugi = 7400, Illidan = 3800; Gozaburo = 17500)

Readying his body, Illidan drew his card, only to be slammed by a blast of black energy that drained away more of his life points. Recovering, he slapped the card in his hand onto his Duel Disk horizontally.

"Come on out Silent Magicican LV4 (1000/1000), in defense mode."

Appearing onto the field was a young, childlike mage dressed in white robes with an odd mage's hat and a scepter in hand. The small mage quickly fell into a kneeling position and crossed it's arms.

"I end." (Jaden = 7300, Seto = 1800, Marie = 7700, Yugi = 7400, Illidan = 3400; Gozaburo = 17900)


	54. Chapter 52: Fight for the Future, Pt 4

**Hey gang! Well, not much new in my life this past week. Really worked hard at work for the most part this week, which was fun. We're in the process of starting a few new projects that will last us till the end of June or somewhere in July, so all good. Other than that, life has just been as hectic as ever, with me going to see my grandparents, spending time with my mate, working over at work to make up for time taken off, and trying to get out and help my dad. So much to do and so little time… At any rate, things are going well, so no worries.**

**Writing wise, this story is progressing slowly, but is moving along steadily. My other story, **_**Reunion**_**, is progressing along also, and it will be pushed out probably on the last week of this month. As for this story, it should be ending in the next month or so. I'm hoping to finish it before very late in May, but we'll see.**

**Moving along, it's review time!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: LOL! Star deck, eh? Sounds nice. True, all the Synchro monsters does make this deck somewhat of a Star deck. Never know what will happen, hehe. As for the grammar comment, eh, it is technically right, but technically not. He was playing a new Tuner Type monster, but he had summoned a monster that was already played before. It's cool about forgetting comments, lol. So true, that dragon is going to pound on the group's defenses. Thanks for the review!**

**The Rainwalker: Greetings once more. Yep, I agreed with your pairings, which were pretty good. It's cool about the location thing. West Virginia is right above Virginia, below Pennsylvania, to the right of Ohio, and below and to the left of Maryland. Think south of Baltimore and Delaware. Yep, I'm an Inuyasha fan. Cool about being one also. I wish I had some DVDs of the series, but I just don't have that kind of money unfortunately at the time. Very nice series in general. Things definitely aren't looking good for Seto, with the others seemingly faltering as well. Yes, Gozaburo is just a pain to get rid of. He keeps coming back and punishing the five, making it hard for them to counter. LOL! Nice thoughts of the group strangling Gozaburo, but not likely since he's far stronger than all of them together. Eh, as for the posting of the stats, that's kind of something someone requested, just so they knew what was going on when the duel began. It's sort of hard to just mix in the stats throughout the duel, at least to me. Kind of like a sentence that wouldn't fit is mostly it. Heh, the attacks are kind of just in there since the show usually used them. Most I create on the fly, so it works out. I do a lot of research on cards in reality. I try and be creative with them and find ways to use real cards first, then cards from the show, and if all else fails, custom cards. Your help is appreciated. Ah, I see who Miho is. The reason I wouldn't know about her is I never read Season 0, unfortunately. Hmm, your idea sounds rather good. I hope you do try for it. I have no doubt it would work out. Unfortunately, I don't get much time to watch anime anymore. I watch Bleach and that's about it. At any rate, if I get time, I may check out those anime's but, no promises. Thanks for the review!**

**Okami Princess: Yep, Red Archfiend Dragon has come out. Heh, other dragons, never know. The combo between Seto and Jaden was good. I figured Jaden at least tried to help out one of his partners, in which Seto managed to save his own dragons. Lol, yes, I suppose he has gotten better with teamwork. Thanks for the review!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: So true, the good guys aren't looking so hot while Gozaburo loses a few points here and there. Heh, never know how this will end. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thanks to all four of you for them. I really appreciate them. I know, I say that frequently, but I do truly enjoy reading them. It is always fun to find out what everyone is thinking about the story.**

**Anyways, I'm done for today. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Duel Stats:**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 7300**

**Seto: 1800**

**Marie: 7700**

**Yugi: 7400**

**Illidan: 3400**

**Gozaburo: 17900**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Card Trooper (400/400) (d)**

**Seto: Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000/2500) (x 3)**

**Marie: FD (d)**

**Yugi: Big Shield Guardna (100/2600) (d)**

**Illidan: Silent Magician LV4 (1000/1000) (0 sc) (d)**

**Gozaburo: Red Archfiend Dragon (3000/2000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: None**

**Seto: FD**

**Marie: FD**

**Yugi: FD**

**Illidan: FD**

**Gozaburo: Tuner Calling (s), Azure Corona – The First Rift (s) (4 sc), Power Zone (fs), Blitz Renewal (t), Twilight Corona – The Second Rift (s) (0 sc), FD**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 0**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 2**

**Illidan: 0**

**Gozaburo: 2**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 3**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 0**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 0**

**Seto: 1**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 0**

**Turns since Seto activated Card of Demise: 0**

**Chapter 52**

Sneering while drawing, the robed duelist darkly laughed as the five duelists were struck by black blasts of dark energy. Their life points slowly drained away while his own increased. Before he could continue, the small white mage before the brown haired duelist glowed with a light white aura.

"When you draw a card, my Silent Magician's effect goes off." Illidan quietly remarked while recovering from the blast. "He gains one Spell Counter each time you draw, and for each counter, he gains 500 attack points (1000 + 500 = 1500/1000)."

Shrugging, the robed duelist turned the card he had just drawn towards the five, saying "I begin by activating the spell Assault Teleport. Thanks to this card, I'm allowed to return one '/Assault Mode' monster from my hand to my deck. I shuffle and then draw two new cards."

Showing a card from his hand, the robed duelist smirked. "This is Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode, which obviously qualifies."

Pulling his deck out, the robed duelist slowly shuffled the card in and finally finished. Placing his deck back, he drew two new cards and smirked. While readying to play, the robed duelist saw the white mage's body glowed to life while increasing in power (2000/1000).

Ignoring the small mage, the robed duelist smartly said "I play Changeling (0/0) to the field."

Forming onto the field instantly was the bronze colored orb of ooze.

"Next, for Tuner Calling, I special summon Arcane Apprentice (1000/400)."

Materializing immediately was a purple and golden robed sorcerer that was covered from head to toe, with exception of his purple skinned hands. The golden parts of his robes were on the bottom half of his body while the dark purple half covered his waist up. Covering his head was a dark purple cone shaped hat, which revealed red eyes peeking out from the shadows of his face. In his right hand, he held a purple rod.

"Now I transform Changeling into one of your monsters. My choice this time is Marie's Guardian Angel Joan!"

Morphing and transforming, the bronzed creature reformed till it took the shape of the pink skinned fairy wearing a white dress.

"And then, I begin a Synchro Summon, so I merge Joan with Arcane Apprentice to create Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000/2500)!"

Forming a pair of spheres, the two creatures began swirling together till finally the met one another and caused a brilliant white light to form onto the field. Stepping out of the light was a silver armored creature with a single teal colored electric eye and a striped line of teal running along it's body. On the creature's back was a pair of wings that were metallic and folded up. In each of the gray creature's hands was a blaster, with one being black in it's right hand while the left one was gray. Both had wires hanging off of them that led back to the creature's waist and plugged into it's body.

"Whenever Arcane Apprentice goes to the Graveyard due to a Synchro Summon, I can add the card known as Assault Mode Activate to my hand from my deck."

Pulling his deck out and sifting through it, the robed duelist finally found the card he desired and placed it within his left hand. Returning his deck, he smirked, saying "Time to have a little fun. For interfering in my business last turn Jaden, I'll let you get introduced to Hyper Psychic Blaster. Go, attack his pathetic tin can with Psycho Beam!"

Taking aim, the silver warrior fired both blasters, causing a teal colored beam to erupt from both barrels. The beams slammed into the small red robot, making it explode instantly. Instead of stopping at that, the twin beams went onwards and slammed into the young duelist, causing him to cry out in pain before falling to one knee.

"I forgot to mention the nasty side effect of my Hyper Psychic Blaster. He has a Trample Damage effect, but there is more. The damage you take from his Trample effect is added to my life points, meaning I gain 2600 life points now. And then there is the fact that you added a counter to Azure Corona by letting your monster be destroyed, but that's not the worst of it. The worst part is you lose another 400 life points thanks to Power Zone while I gain another 400 life points due to Blitz Renewal!"

Streaking from the sky and striking the already weakened young duelist was a bolt of lightning, causing him to scream out in more pain before falling forward and landing face down on the ground.

Laughing maniacally, the robed duelist began to continue on, only to hear a muffled voice mumble "That hurt, but I get to use my monster's effect."

Slowly getting up onto his hands and knees while panting heavily, the young duelist whimpered lightly but forced himself up onto his feet once more. "When destroyed, Card Trooper's effect lets me draw a card."

Watching the young duelist draw, Gozaburo shrugged, saying "No matter. Now then, I'll have my Red Dragon Archfiend direct attack you!"

Roaring loudly, the black and red dragon opened it's jaws, readying itself for a strike. In a single motion, the dragon spat out a red fireball at the wide opened young duelist.

"I don't think so, Gozaburo!" Jaden declared. "I remove Necro Guardna from my Graveyard in order to negate your attack."

Glowing to life, the young duelist's Graveyard pushed out the selected monster card into his awaiting hand. Forming before him in a flash was a warrior dressed in grey, maroon, and black armor. The warrior had long white hair that fell to his knees in length, with his armor being spiked, and seemingly built to catch attacks. In a single motion, he threw himself before the young duelist and crossed his arms. The fireball slammed into him, causing the warrior to grunt out, but after a moment, the fireball finally died down, leaving the warrior standing for a moment before vanishing.

Shrugging, the robed duelist calmly said "Oh well, I'll just place one face down card and end my turn, meaning Changeling returns to my hand." (Jaden = 3900, Seto = 1400, Marie = 7300, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 22900)

Finally calming his breathing, the young duelist glared at his opponent before drawing a card. Immediately, a blast of black energy slammed into his chest, making him cry out in pain once more. Clenching his right hand tightly, the young duelist looked at his new card and slightly smiled at it.

"I'll kick things off by summoning Elemental Hero Prisma (1700/1100)!"

Forming onto the field instantly, a warrior made of what looked like crystal that was mostly light blue with green on his chest, hips, and head. On the warrior's back was a pair of crystal wings.

"And next, I activate his special ability. By showing you a Fusion Type monster, I can send a Fusion Material monster from my deck that was listed in the Fusion Type monster."

Pulling his Fusion Deck out, the young duelist selected one of the cards and revealed it to the robed duelist, who couldn't help but gasp at the selection. "As you can see, this is Rainbow Neos, so now I can send either Elemental Hero Neos or Rainbow Dragon (4000/0) from my deck to the Grave. Since I'm holding Neos in my hand, my only choice is Rainbow Dragon, the very card that Jesse gave to me for this duel!"

Grabbing his deck, Jaden sifted through it till he found the declared card. Placing it into his Graveyard Slot, he smirked, saying "And now, until the end of my turn, Prisma's name is treated as the discarded card, which was Rainbow Dragon!"

Glowing brightly, the crystal armored monster began radiating a brilliant rainbow colored light, causing everyone to shield their eyes. The light soon died down, revealing a powerful white scaled dragon that had a long snake like body, huge white feather wings on the top part, a sharp spike sticking out the top of it's head and off the back of it's head, a pair of wings off the sides of it's head, and golden like pronged wings that didn't move. On the sides of the top part of the dragon were seven jewels.

"Not bad, but that won't stop me." Gozaburo commented.

"That may be, but now I play Polymerization, allowing me to fuse Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000) with Rainbow Dragon, allowing me to call upon the mighty Rainbow Neos (4500/3000)!"

Appearing onto the field beside of the large white dragon immediately was the white muscular warrior with a slicked back horn. The two immediately swirled together, causing rainbow colored light to form onto the field.

Eyes widening, the robed duelist declared "It can't be!"

Unfazed, Jaden firmly replied "This fusion of friendship is going to help me conquer you once and for all!"

Slowly, the rainbow colored light died down as the frame of a large creature with massive wings formed. The light soon vanished, revealing a large white warrior with gold trim covering his body, golden jewels on almost all of his joints and on his head and chest, golden pointed shoulder pads, and large white feathered wings with four separate yellow pieces. On the creatures head were two purple feathered wings, one on each side. The eyes of the warrior were teal colored and what looked like a second set of eyes on the upper part of his head. Fully on the field, the warrior let out a massive cry and spread his wings, causing large currents of wind to spread over the field.

"You are no match for my monster. Rainbow Neos, take out his Hyper Psychic Blaster with Cosmic Radiance Crush!"

Pulling back it's massive right arm, the large white warrior's right fist began glowing with a brilliant rainbow colored glow. Throwing his arm forward, the warrior shot a stream of rainbow colored energy straight at the weaker white gun wielding creature.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly remarked "Sorry Jaden, but it's not that easy. I reveal the trap called Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!"

Forming on the field before the gun wielding creature was a strange looking scarecrow made of a football helmet with a pair of broken goggles, a metal pole for arms and a midsection, along with two for legs. Tied around the neck of the scarecrow was a tattered white scarf. The rainbow colored blast only continued on, slamming heavily into the metallic scarecrow, but stopped. Slowly, the rainbow energy died down, revealing the gun totting creature was unharmed.

"What happened?" Jaden asked with an unsure voice.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly replied "My Scrap-Iron Scarecrow happened. When you attacked, my card negated your monster's attack. Then I'm allowed to set this card once more instead of sending it to the Graveyard."

Growling with irritation, the young duelist grunted out "I end my turn." (Jaden = 3400, Seto = 1400, Marie = 7300, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 23400)

While drawing his card, pain flared through Seto's body as he weakly eyed his new card. His eyes immediately enlarged upon staring at it, drawing the attention of the others.

Impatient, Gozaburo irritably said "Are you going to play it or not?"

"You'll wish I hadn't." Seto smoothly remarked. Picking up two of his monster cards, he placed them quietly into his Graveyard before placing the other card he held onto his Duel Disk vertically.

"I sacrifice two of my dragons to summon Critius, the Legendary Knight (2800/2800)!"

Two of the white dragons instantly vanished, only to be replaced by a red armored knight who wore a black cape on his back. In his belt a sword sat strapped to his backside. The eyes of the knight were blue that appeared rather hardened.

Eyes widening at the appearance of the new monster, the robed duelist mumbled "So, they did come."

"_You will pay for reviving the power of the Orichalcos!_" Critius snarled. "_That power was meant to remain sealed away, not to be revived!_"

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo coolly replied "I do as I please. If it is what I will, it will become reality. It doesn't matter if the three knights of Atlantis came to fight me or not. Either way, I will have what I want and what I want is The Great Leviathan revived."

"We'll see about that." Seto firmly remarked. "I'll end my turn at that. Just try and attack me!" (Jaden = 3400, Seto = 900, Marie = 7300, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 23900)

Picking up her card, the female duelist was slammed in the chest by a blast of black energy, sending her sliding backwards a few feet. Recovering, Marie cast her fierce brown eyes at the robed duelist, who smirked at her. Eyeing the card in her hand, she smirked in return and slowly slid it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot.

"You're about to lose whatever plan you had, Gozaburo." Marie commented. "I activate the spell Mystical Space Typhoon! Thanks to this card, I can destroy one spell or trap on the field. I could take out that annoying Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, but I have a much better plan in mind."

Pointing her finger at the robed duelist's cards before him, she moved her finger to point straight at one of the spell cards. "I'm going to destroy your Azure Corona! And when it goes, so does you Twilight Corona!"

Before the robed duelist could counter her words, a powerful spiraling tornado slammed into the selected spell card, shattering it instantly. A moment passed before the card next to it shattered also.

Seeing the anger and frustration on her opponent's face, the female duelist smugly said "I end my turn at that." (Jaden = 3400, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 24400)

Casting a small smile at the female duelist, Yugi drew his new card and eyed it momentarily before slapping it onto his Duel Disk horizontally. "I'll sacrifice Big Shield Guardna in order to summon Archfiend of Gilfer (2200/2500) in defense mode."

Vanishing in a swirl of flames, the black haired warrior disappeared from the field, only to make way for a blue and red skinned creature with sharp clawed feet that were bare, a long tail behind itself, a muscular torso with red wings sprouting from it's back, sharp ivory colored spikes sticking out from it's elbows, red wrist pads, and a red helmet that had a large slicked back spike on the back of it's head while the front had a single ivory horn jutting out. At last on the field, the creature took up a kneeling stance and crossed it's arms before it's chest.

"I believe that is enough. I end my turn." (Jaden = 3400, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 24400)

"Now why on earth did Yugi play that monster? It's weaker than his Big Shield Guardna was and won't make much more of a difference." Jesse commented with a bewildered expression on his face.

Eyeing the red and blue monster, Syrus looked between Jesse and Zane, before saying "I bet it has an effect, hence why Yugi bothered."

"Indeed." Zane quietly remarked.

"Still, Jaden has the strongest monster on the field." Alexis piped up.

Nodding, Chazz commented "Yeah, by far. The others have powerful cards, but not nearly enough. Plus, without that set of spell cards dealing damage, the group should be safe."

"We can only hope." Zane murmured.

On the field, Illidan picked up a new card and eyed it for a moment. At last, he placed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I set this card and end my turn." (Jaden = 3400, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 24400)

Sneering at the five duelists, the robed duelist drew his card deliberately slowly. At the same time, the white mage before the brown haired duelist glowed as it's strength went up (2000 + 500 = 2500/1000). Ignoring the mage and instead examining his new card, the robed duelist began darkly chuckling, saying "I think it's time I raised the stakes. I begin by placing one card face down. Up next, I'm activating the spell Emergency Provisions, allowing me to sacrifice any spell or trap cards and gain 1000 life points for it. I send Power Zone, along with Blitz Renewal to my Graveyard by this effect, meaning I gain 2000 life points. Since I am sending Blitz Renewal, I also lose 1000 life points for it's effect."

Immediately, the sky above the duel cleared somewhat, while the lone trap card on the field before the robed duelist vanished in a golden glow.

"And now, I activate the spell known as Card of Sanctity. Thanks to this card, we all draw till we hold six cards in our hands."

One by one, the six duelists began drawing cards, with the robed duelist picking up five and the others, with exception of the spike haired duelist who drew four cards, picked up six. At the same time, the white mage before the brown haired duelist glowed with a white aura once more, causing it's strength to increase yet again (2500 + 500 = 3000/1000). Paying no heed, Gozaburo looked over his new cards before sinisterly grinning.

"You will wish I had not drawn those cards. I activate the spell Quick Summon, allowing me to now have another Normal Summon. I use it to summon this, my Void Mercenary (1900/200)."

Forming onto the field instantly was a warrior clad in black armor that was so pitch black that it seemed to suck in the very light from around it. A crimson cross covered it's chest and shield ended in triangular tips on all ends was in his left hand. Finally, there appeared a sword at his waist that was obsidian in looks, though it was also obvious that it would not be brittle like the black volcanic glass. The creature rode upon a horse that was just as black, with it's size and shape adding to its intimidation factor.

"And now, Tuner Calling activates, meaning I can special summon this, another of my Dark Sphere's (100/100)."

Materializing onto the field instantly was the familiar dark sphere like creature that had no signs of life other than a swirling of the dark energy around itself.

"With Dark Sphere's summoning, I can return up to two of my Tuner Type monsters from my Graveyard. I choose to return my one Dark Sphere, along with Arcane Apprentice."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist waited patiently as the two monster cards slid out and into his awaiting hand. Silently, he shuffled them back into his deck and returned it to it's slot.

"Next I activate the spell card Premature Burial, allowing me to pay 800 life points in order to special summon a monster from my Graveyard. My choice is Krebons (1200/400)."

Instantly, the blue and yellow armored creature with white and blue gloves on it's hands reformed onto the field.

"Next, I activate the effect of Void Mercenary. By not attacking this turn, he can remove one monster on the field from play. My choice is Yugi's weakling Archfiend of Gilfer!"

Releasing a loud battle cry, the horseman ushered his horse forward into a full gallop. Nearing the blue and red skinned creature, the horseman slashed out at the kneeling creature. The sword of the horseman easily cut through the weaker creature, causing it to vanish in a flash of white light.

Darkly chuckling at the frustrated face of the spike haired duelist, the robed duelist selected one card from his hand and smugly remarked "It is time I showed you something truly fearful, but I must ask four of you a question first. Tell me, what did Yami do with the Egyptian God Cards?"

"He took them with him to the Realm of the Pharaoh." Jaden firmly spoke up.

Sighing lightly, the robed duelist grunted out "I figured as much. You see, upon being reborn into this world, I began searching for more power. I found the three Legendary Dragons, along with the former Egyptian God that is their fusion, buried here in Dark World. I kept them and eventually gave them to that demoness, Yubel, to use. Still, I continued to search for the Egyptian God Cards, for it was their power I desired to have. In the end, I searched eleven of the twelve dimensions for the cards. The twelfth is a dimension I cannot enter though."

"It is the Realm of the Pharaoh. Only a pharaoh of Egypt can enter that dimension, though even that isn't true, due that some pharaoh's are not allowed in. At any rate, I imagine that fool took those four cards with him into there, to ensure they wouldn't be stolen."

Cracking an evil smile, the robed duelist added "But still, I do not need them. You see, the Egyptian Gods even had darkness within them."

"Darkness within the Egyptian God?" Illidan repeated, if not questioned, with a frown gracing his features. "What do you mean by that?"

Smirking, the robed duelist nodded, saying "You see, when the Egyptian Gods were first born, they were nothing more than pieces of Anubis's soul. The very darkness of that Egyptian God was transferred into them also, thus they shared the same dark souls as Anubis."

"But then the pharaoh of Egypt back then discovered this. This was the same pharaoh who sealed away Anubis and dispersed his power to the three Egyptian Gods. Realizing the darkness remained, he performed another separation ritual. Using his immense power, the pharaoh drew the darkness out of the three Egyptian Gods and cast it aside. But that darkness didn't stay cast aside. No, it only created three new creatures, creatures that took all of the anger and hate of the three Egyptian Gods and used it as their own power."

Sneering, Gozaburo smugly said "Those monsters were known as the three Wicked Gods. They are the true darkness of the Egyptian God Cards. Each of them share similar characteristics as the creature that discarded it's darkness. And now, I believe it's time I revealed to you one of them so you can know true fear."

"Just go already. I grow tired of listening to you." Seto grumbled.

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist picked a card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "Careful what you wish for fool! I sacrifice Krebons, Dark Sphere, and Void Mercenary in order to summon the first of the three Wicked Gods, The Wicked Dreadroot (4000/4000)!"

One by one, the three creatures vanished from the field before the robed duelist. All at once, the sky darkened even more than before while brilliant white lightning flashed throughout the sky. Without warning, a massively large white bolt of energy slammed onto the field. Emerging from the lightning slowly was a pair of black skinned wings with white outer trim, followed by two massive arms that apparently had a large white bone on the outside of them, with ivory colored spikes sticking out from each elbow and two from the top of it's hand. The remainder of the two arms was green and extremely muscular. Slowly, the waist of the creature was revealed to be rather muscular with similar looking legs. At last, the creature's head was revealed, seemingly encapsulated within a white bone helmet that appeared to demonic horns, with a dark green face. Fully onto the field at last, the creature released a mighty howl, causing the wind to immediately gust across the field and pound against the opposing monsters.

Staring at the green and white creature on the field, all five duelists' eyes were wide and full of shock. Calming himself, Illidan ground out "It's almost a direct opposite of Obelisk the Tormentor…"

"That is correct, Illidan." Gozaburo commented, earning the five's attention once more. "The Wicked Dreadroot is the darkness that was cast from Obelisk the Tormentor. And now, that very darkness of an Egyptian God shall destroy all of you!"

"I don't think so." Jaden bluntly called out. "Did you forget, my Rainbow Neos has the advantage over that thing?"

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist glanced over at the towering white and green monster, whose eyes suddenly began to glow a dark red color. All at once, all of the monsters, with exception of the green and white creature, began glowing with a red aura, instantly seemingly weakening them.

"What happened!?" Illidan exclaimed while looking at his white mage.

Once more chuckling, Gozaburo slowly said "Dreadroot's effect just took place. It cuts all monsters' attack and defense points in half that are on the field, other than his own points of course. That means each of our monsters are now half of what they once were (3000 / 2 = 1500/2000 / 2 = 1000) (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250) (4500 / 2 = 2250/3000 / 2 = 1500) (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250) (2800 / 2 = 1400/2800 / 2 = 1400) (3000 / 2 = 1500/1000 / 2 = 500)."

Staring at their monsters, all of the group could not help but suppress their frustration. Seeing this, the robed duelist began laughing manically, asking "Is the reality of the situation finally setting in? You fools should know I wouldn't have accepted a five on one duel unless I knew what I was doing!"

"We will still win." Illidan firmly remarked.

Sneering at the brown haired duelist, Gozaburo smugly replied "If you wish to believe in false hope, go ahead. In the meantime, I shall show you the true darkness, for my next card is as old as time itself, and yet more powerful than anything else in all twelve dimensions."

Recognizing the words that the robed duelist spoke, Yugi's eyes widened in shock while he whispered "No… It can't be…"

Knowing what his friend had said, the brown haired duelist couldn't help but lowly growl to himself. "_This is bad! Once he plays that card, things will only grow more difficult for us, and possibly impossible for us to win. I can only hope that we're capable of defeating him._"

Seeing the shock and dismay in four of the five duelists' faces, Gozaburo coolly said "The time has come to destroy all of you with this card. Now prepared for your fate to be sealed! I activate The Seal of Orichalcos!"

Jamming the card into his field spell slot, the robed duelist burst out into fits of dark maniacal laughter as a beam of green light shot into the sky. Immediately, a green circle with odd runic letters within it began spinning downwards towards the ground. Touching down at last, the green circle glowed brightly, seemingly creating a barrier around the group. Slowly, a six pointed star began forming on the field while the robed duelist's forehead began to glow with a green light. The glow slowly faded, revealing a small circle with the same six pointed star.

"Welcome to the darkness, for soon, you shall remain here, forever."


	55. Chapter 53: Fight for the Future, Pt 5

**Hey there gang. Not too much new is going on in my life. I went and saw my grandfather Friday, which was fun. His allergies have been bothering him quite a bit, as have my own. Still, his are to the point he's stopped up pretty bad, plus sneezing like crazy, and has red, dry eyes. Other than that, he's doing relatively well, though he cried because my grandmother mowed the yard. He told her he would have done it, but obviously, he can't due that he's still bedridden. Anyways, other than that, things are about normal. My grandmother's birthday is coming up, as is my own, so that's going to be fun since my mom is coming in. Lol, everyone wants to know what I want also. I have nothing I really want at the moment. Well, I have stuff I want, but nothing I desperately want. There are only a few games out that I may want, one for the Wii and another for PS3, but I can live without them also. I kind of feel like a kid when I ask for a game, but my mom doesn't care. At any rate, not much else is going on.**

**Writing wise, this story is progressing, so hopefully it will be done before the end of May, but I'm optimistic on that one. You never know. We'll see. As for **_**Reunion**_**, it's moving along nicely also. I'm hopeful that I'll begin posting it here in a few weeks. I had planned on next week, but I changed my mind so I could progress this story a bit more first.**

**Moving along, it's time once again for reviews!**

**Metal Overlord 2.0: Good, the bat wasn't helping you much. Heh, yeah, I'm sure not many thought of him using The Wicked Gods. Honestly, I didn't know about The Wicked Gods until we finally got to the duels where Gozaburo began dueling. Ardee took the time to point them out to me. I had never heard of them prior to that, but upon seeing them, I knew they were just perfect for his style. Yes, there was a lot of work going into these duels, but it's all worth it. Originally, when I thought of him dueling five on one, I wasn't so sure myself, since his deck didn't seem too terribly powerful, but once the duel between Yubel and himself was done, I had changed my mind. But yeah, thus far, Gozaburo has managed to hold his own and then some with his numerous methods. Yeah, I figured throwing Rainbow Neos in would shake things up. Heh, as for the Knight of Atlantis, we kind of decided to use them in place of the Egyptian God Cards. After all, those four cards have been used a bit much, but bringing out the Knights shakes things up a bit. Glad that you liked this story thus far, and thanks for your review!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: Yep, Gozaburo has The Wicked Gods. Lol, glad this gave you some motivation to finish up your own story. Yeah, with Critius and Rainbow Neos on the field, things sure look up for the group, though that may change now. Thanks for the review!**

**The Rainwalker: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Heh, cool about the Blazers. I really don't watch much pro ball anymore. Really, I don't care much for it for some reason or another. Just drifted away from it over time. Lol, I wasn't going to say a word about your age. True, Gozaburo's arrogance is boundless it seems. The group is having their troubles fighting against the Synchro Cards, but throwing in The Wicked Gods and then The Seal of Orichalcos on top of that makes it much harder for the group to stand up to him. So true, the darkness of the Egyptian God Cards that was cast aside seems to have return to harm the others. Lol, yes, the group does have a problem with The Seal coming out. It should make things much harder for them. Yeah, the list thing was a request from a while back to see what had been put into play. Heh, yeah, I'm not really into the 5D's series. I just can't seem to understand the reason to duel on motorcycles. 1) It's dangerous. 2) I can't understand how you could focus on the duel when you're keeping track of where your motorcycle is. Anyways, that's my thoughts on that series. It's kind of a disappointment, much like what happened to GX in the end. 4Kids butchered the series and abandoned it in the end, which saddens me. Good idea on putting more grit into your story for the series. Anyways, as for my grandparents, they're getting along. Hmm, I may try and do something like you suggest, though I doubt I'd get much out of grandpa due that he's not completely with it anymore. He understands what's going on for the most part, but not quite. We'll see though. Cool about the short story for Kumoricon. Heh, yeah, not having funds does suck, though that may change in the near future, I hope, seeing how my mate had an interview this past Friday. She's hopeful on it, and I pray she gets it. She needs a break, that's for sure. Anyways, we're both happy to have jobs at the least. Glad to hear you pride yourself on consistency. I feel the same way. I always try and do the same myself. LOL! Poor Tristan. Better than I'd have done. I'd have cut that hard hat cut down to nothingness. Again, I'm glad you liked the chapter. I do have a computer with Microsoft Word on it. At work, I have 2007, but at home I use 2003 and I tend to run a spell check, but perhaps it misses some, and I possibly miss stuff too when I do my read through. I'm only human! Lol, kidding. Everyone knows I'm the half demon! Alexis and Jaden are kind of already together really. Read back early on and it comments more or less on their relationship. Heh, yeah, they're most definitely together, much like how the show shows that. Yeah, my wife did write. She did post stories at one time, but she hasn't really been at it in a long time. A link to what she has is in my profile. Anyways, thanks for the review! (/Watches Hasselberry walk through and start screaming "Sam hill!"\) Ok… (/Throws Sam Wise from Lord of the Rings at him and knocks him out.\) Much better. Again, thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Synchro, Orichalcos, and Wicked Gods indeed. You are correct about the Corona cards having a major weakness. Gozaburo kind of explained it better during his duel with Yubel, I suppose, about it's requirements. They're incremental, but without the previous one, the group collapses. So you can't play the Third Rift without the Second, which requires the First. Eh, as for Bonds, I believe he requires the Rifts to play it, but I'd have to check that one again. True, Twilight Corona is a bit of an oddball, but it works, I suppose. Blitz Renewal only grants life points when effect damage takes place, so every time Power Zone kicked in, it's effect triggered Blitz. The same for whenever Azure Corona kicked in. It's cool about only three questions. You can do as many as you like, and if you think it's too many, just PM me. I'm more than happy to answer questions. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's all the reviews for this go around. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews once again. I really appreciate them. I know, I say it every week, but I truly do appreciate them. They're helpful in writing this story, trust me. And to anyone who has yet to review, but wish to, I encourage you to do so. No matter what you ask, I'll try to answer you.**

**At any rate, I need to run. I hope to hear from everyone again in the near future. Until next time, enjoy all!**

**Duel Stats**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 3400**

**Seto: 900**

**Marie: 6800**

**Yugi: 7000**

**Illidan: 3000**

**Gozaburo: 25400**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Rainbow Neos (4500 / 2 = 2250/3000 / 2 = 1500)**

**Seto: Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250), Critius, the Legendary Knight (2800 / 2 = 1400/2800 / 2 = 1400)**

**Marie: FD (d)**

**Yugi: None**

**Illidan: Silent Magician LV4 (3000 / 2 = 1500/1000 / 2 = 500) (5 sc) (d)**

**Gozaburo: Red Archfiend Dragon (3000 / 2 = 1500/2000 / 2 = 1000), Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250), The Wicked Dreadroot (4000/4000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: None**

**Seto: FD**

**Marie: FD**

**Yugi: FD**

**Illidan: FD x 2**

**Gozaburo: Tuner Calling (s), FD x 3, The Seal of Orichalcos (fs)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 6**

**Seto: 6**

**Marie: 6**

**Yugi: 6**

**Illidan: 6**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 2**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 0**

**Seto: 1**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 2**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Turns since Seto activated Card of Demise: 1**

**Chapter 53**

With his laughter dying down, the robed duelist looked at his five opponents. Gazing from one to another, he saw that the older duelists seemed to understand what he had played, while the youngest of the group kept glaring at him.

"I suppose I should inform, or at the least remind, all of you of the effects of The Seal of Orichalcos. First of all, we are all now trapped within The Seal, and no one can escape it, nor enter it while the duel continues on. Secondly, there is only one way to leave. You must win the duel, meaning I must defeat all five of you, or I must be defeated. Should you lose, you will not only be drained of your Duel Energy by my Shadow Game, but your soul will be taken and fed to The Great Leviathan!"

Seeing the dread, if not worry, on the faces of his opponents, the robed duelist continued on, saying "Thirdly, all of my monsters gain 500 attack points (1500 + 500 = 2000/1000) (1500 + 500 = 2000/1250) (4000 + 500 = 4500/4000)."

Instantly, small green circles, like the one that appeared on the robed duelist's forehead, appeared on each of the creature's foreheads and changed their eyes into an evil shade of red, with all letting out a low growl as their strength increased.

"Lastly, so long as The Seal of Orichalcos is on the field, I can have up to ten monsters on my field. That is due that my Spell and Trap Card Zones can now be converted into Monster Zones. Of course, this does limit the number of spell and trap cards I can play, but I can live with it, I suppose. Also, should I summon a monster to my Spell and Trap Card Zone, a second row of monsters is created. The front row is the ones on my Monster Card Zones, while the back row is in my Spell and Trap Card Zones. You cannot attack the back row until you defeat my front row."

"Insane…" Jaden mumbled to himself as a drop of sweat slid down his right cheek.

Growling lowly to himself, Seto grunted out "This magic circle couldn't save Dartz, so don't think it'll protect you."

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly replied "Unlike Dartz, I'm not counting on this card alone, but I have no fear of anything any of you can use against me. None of you can defeat me. It is futile for each of you to continue fighting me."

"We'll see about that one!" Marie hissed.

Shrugging, the robed duelist scanned his opponents' fields for a moment before smirking. "It is time to show you the power of my Wicked God. Wicked Dreadroot, show Rainbow Neos your power. Crush it with Fist of Dread!"

Drawing back it's massive green and white arm, the large green and white creature let out a terrifying roar, causing the ground beneath the group to seemingly quake with fear. Stepping forward, the large creature slammed it's fist into the chest of the large white warrior, causing the warrior to howl in pain before shattering into millions of pixels. A large explosion formed from the loss of the monster, causing the young duelist to scream out in pain while a cloud of smoke covered him.

Slowly, the smoke receded, revealing the young duelist panting weakly while still standing. A moment passed before without warning, he fell forward onto the ground, face first.

"JADEN!" the group of four duelists called out, along with the ones outside of the duel.

Racing forward, the blonde haired young woman slammed her fists into the barrier, crying out loudly with tears flowing down her cheeks "Jaden, Jaden, get up! You have to get up!"

In a mere whimper, she whispered "Please, get up…"

"Alexis…" Zane murmured while watching his long time friend sob her heart out while still pounding her fists on the barrier. She was now barely doing so and more or less crying. Unable to watch any longer, he moved forward and placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her away.

Angered, Alexis began struggling, crying out "Let me go Zane! I need to get to him!"

"Lex, it's pointless. You're not strong enough to break that barrier." the duelist in the black trench coat whispered while holding her tightly.

Refusing to stop struggling, the blonde haired young woman continued attempting to get free, only to finally stop when she saw the young brown haired duelist moving. "Jaden?"

Shaking while moving to his hands and knees, the young duelist heavily panted as sweat dripped down from his face to the ground. Weakly, he managed to push himself back onto one foot, only to falter and fall back to his knees.

"Looks like it's time I put you out of your misery."

Looking up to see it was the robed duelist that had spoke, the young duelist let out a light growl, seemingly his only response. Sneering at this, Gozaburo pointed at Jaden and said "Put him down, Hyper Psychic Blaster. Direct attack."

Taking aim with both blasters in hand, the warrior released a blast from each gun at the heavily panting young duelist. Staring at the oncoming attack, the young duelist held his head up, not allowing any signs of weakness to flash over his face.

"Not happening, Gozaburo!" Marie yelled. "I reveal my spell card, Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! With this, I can special summon Winged Kuriboh (300 / 2 = 150/200 / 2 = 100) in defense mode!"

Materializing onto the field in a series of sparkles was a small brown fur ball creature with purple eyes, small white wings on it's back, and short, stubby green clawed hands and feet.

"And now, I move Winged Kuriboh to defend Jaden, so go protect him!"

Immediately, the small brown creature leapt across the field and moved before the younger duelist. The twin blasts of the white warrior's blasters slammed into it, making it cry out before exploding into millions of pixels.

Irritated, the robed duelist grunted out "You may have saved his life points, but don't forget, my Blaster has a special ability of it's own, which allows me to gain life points equal the difference in my monster's attack points and your monster's defense points. That comes to a total of 1900 points that I now gain. And since you interfered in my business, I'll just take you out! Destroy her monster now Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Roaring loudly, the black and red dragon opened it's maw, revealing a dark red energy pooling together into a large fireball. Releasing the blast, it slammed hard into the face down monster card image, shattering it immediately and sending dust and smoke into the air. Flying out of the smoke and sinking it's teeth into the robed duelist's right leg was a pair shaped pink creature with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Instantly, the robed duelist howled out in pain and slammed a fist into the pink creature's head, only to have it bounce off while the creature harmlessly returned to before it's master.

"You attacked my Marshmallon (300 / 2 = 150/500 / 2 = 250), whose effect went off when you attacked him while face down. He immediately dealt you a 1000 life points of damage, and plus, he can't be destroyed in battle." Marie smugly explained.

Growling lightly, the robed duelist pointed an accusing finger at the female duelist, saying "That may be, but he's not safe yet! Thanks to my dragon's effect, when he attacks a defense position monster, all of your defense position monsters are destroyed during the end of the Damage Step. Say farewell to that annoyance!"

Immediately, the small pink creature shattered, leaving the female duelist alone and with no defense before herself. Frowning at this, she remained quiet while glaring at the robed duelist.

Smirking at his opponents, Gozaburo coolly said "I end my turn." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 26500)

Standing slowly, the young duelist cast his brown eyes upon the robed man across the field and glared fiercely at him. Seeing this, the robed duelist cackled, saying "Looks like you're going to fail at avenging that thing that you called a friend."

"I will avenge Yubel, and help Illidan and Marie get their daughter back, no matter what! I don't care what happens to me, but I'll make sure I stop you, no matter what!" Jaden fired off with determination in his voice.

Finished, he drew his next card. Eyeing it for a moment, he placed the card into his left hand but selected a different one. Turning it towards his opponent, he called out "I activate the spell Summon Draw! When activated, I have to draw two cards from my deck and then toss them into the Graveyard. Depending on how many monsters I draw is how high a level a monster I can summon. If I pick up one monster, I can summon up a level five or six monster, and with two monsters, I can summon a level seven or higher monster. But if I draw no monsters, I cannot summon any monsters this turn. There is one downside to this card, which is whatever happens, you get to pick any spell card from you deck and set it onto the field, so go ahead and do it."

Sneering, the robed duelist pulled his deck out and sifted through it for a few long moments before selecting a card. Shuffling his deck and replacing it, he placed the chosen card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot silently.

Seeing his opponent was done, the younger duelist reached for his deck and called out "Now let's see what I've got!"

Snapping off two cards, the young duelist eyed them and smirked. Turning them towards the robed duelist, he triumphantly smirked, saying "I drew these two monsters, Elemental Hero Bladedge and Cross Porter. That means I can summon a level seven or higher monster, and I have the perfect one. After all, I think it's only fitting she gets to help me take you down."

"What are you babbling about?" Gozaburo questioned with an uninterested look.

Smirking slightly, Jaden selected a card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. "The monster I choose to summon using Summon Draw is this, Yubel (0/0)!"

Forming on the field instantly was the familiar demoness that had battled with the robed duelist before the others had arrived. Fully on the field, she shot a deathly glare at the robed duelist, seemingly challenging him to fight her.

"_I will make you pay for what you have done, Gozaburo!_" Yubel firmly declared. "_You will pay for harming Jaden!_"

Seemingly amused by the demoness's threat, the robed duelist replied "This should be fun. I get to not only eliminate my enemies, but I can destroy you once more."

"I wouldn't count on destroying anyone!" Jaden declared. "I now remove from play the spell Summon Draw from my Graveyard in order to special summon Magic Striker (600 / 2 = 300/200 / 2 = 100)."

Materializing onto the field in a flash was a small warrior like creature wearing a set of light blue clothing with pointed brown shoes, bare legs up to his knees, gloved yellow hands, a red cape on his back, a small golden colored sword in it's sheath on it's belt, a crooked stick in it's right hand, and a light blue and blue helmet with two yellow horns sticking out the side of it. The warrior had a cartoon like face with dark black eyes.

"Magic Striker, go direct attack him!"

Racing forward, the small warrior bypassed the larger creatures and struck the robed duelist in the chest with his stick, earning him a grunt for his troubles.

"And now, Yubel, I think it's time you returned the favor to Gozaburo for sending you away. Attack his Dreadroot!"

Smirking evilly, the demoness coolly said "_It's time you felt the pain you caused me. Come Dreadroot, let's do battle._"

Upon finishing her words, the demoness's eyes glowed with a dark orange glow. The large green and white creature's eyes immediately glowed the same color, forcing it to take a few steps forward while drawing back it's right arm.

"I don't know which of you is more foolish, you or your foolish demon." Gozaburo smartly commented. "I reveal Scrap-Iron Scarecrow! With it, I can negate your attack, meaning you wasted your time."

Reappearing onto the field instantly was the strange looking metal scarecrow, causing the green and white creature to stop moving and step backwards.

Groaning with irritation, Jaden ground out "I'll set two cards face down. Now I'll move to my End Phase, in which Yubel's effect kicks in. During it, I must sacrifice a monster to her to keep her on the field. Unfortunately, I have to sacrifice Magic Striker. Sorry pal."

Vanishing from the field, the small warrior turned into a golden ray of sparkles before fully disappearing. The demoness's body glowed for a moment before she let out a small sigh.

"I end my turn." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 26200)

Snapping off his top card, Seto eyed it for a moment before smirking. "You're going to regret not getting rid of me last turn, Gozaburo! Instead of turning your full attention to me, you wasted it on Jaden. Now you'll pay for what you've done to my friends! I play the spell Silent Dorm, allowing me to bring back a monster from my Graveyard in defense. The monster I choose shouldn't be a surprise, seeing how it's my favorite! Rise up once more, my mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250)!"

Reappearing onto the field with a mighty roar was an exact copy of the other white dragon on the field, though this one quickly furled it's wings and took up a defensive stance.

"I'm not through yet, for I activate another spell, Monster Reincarnation! With it, I ditch a card from my hand while returning a monster in my Graveyard to my hand. I choose to return my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand!"

Placing a card into his Graveyard Slot, the duelist in the white trench coat waited as the card was sucked in. Once pulled in, the slot glowed to life and pushed the monster card out into it's owner's awaiting hand.

Smirking, Seto defiantly called out "Now it's time for you to face true terror! I activate Polymerization, fusing the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons on my field with the one in my hand to form my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon (4500 / 2 = 2250/3800 / 2 = 1900)!"

Materializing onto the field beside of it's two comrades, the third white dragon released a mighty roar, which was joined in by the other two before the three began swirling together. The swirling soon stopped, revealing the three-headed dragon that had been in the duel earlier. Each of the three heads released a mighty roar, seemingly trying to prove it's strength.

"My foolish step son, have you learned nothing yet?" Gozaburo lectured. "Your dragon may have been powerful under normal circumstances, but just look at it now. It has only half it's attack and defense, and even that isn't enough to take on Wicked Dreadroot. You could try and attack one of my weaker monsters I suppose, but it would be pointless, seeing how I have a trap on the field to stop your attack. So the question is, why waste your time summoning that pathetic dragon?"

Confidently smirking, Seto thundered back "Because as powerful as this dragon is, I have one even more powerful! I sacrifice Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in order to summon the almighty Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250)!"

Roaring loudly, the three-headed dragon suddenly began to glow with a brilliant white light while cracks began forming all over it's body. Light instantly began seeping out from the cracks and was so blindingly bright, everyone but the duelist in the white trench coat, were forced to shield their eyes. Without warning, the three-headed dragon shattered, revealing a blinding white light that engulfed the field. Slowly, the light faded, leaving in it's wake a silver metal looking dragon with blue spheres running along parts of it's body. It had no arms, but mighty metallic wings, powerful legs, a strong tail, and a powerful head. The dragon let out a high pitched roar that was higher than any of the previous dragons had.

"So, that is the legendary Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon that I had heard about." the robed duelist commented. "It is powerful looking, but not quite strong enough to do battle with my Wicked Dreadroot. After all, thanks to Dreadroot, that dragon is only half of what it once was, and even if it wasn't affected by Dreadroot, it would have only had the strength of your original Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Chuckling, Seto smirked, saying "That may be so, but my dragon has a few hidden abilities that you may want to brace yourself for. The first being my dragon gains 300 extra attack points per a Dragon Type monster in my Graveyard. Right now, there are my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, along with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Kaiser Glider, Paladin of White Dragon, and then the other I placed in there this turn, being Different Dimension Dragon. With those seven in there, my dragon gains an extra 2100 attack points (1500 + 300 * 7 = 3600/1250)."

Glowing with a brilliant white aura, the metallic dragon let out a high pitched screech as it's strength suddenly more than doubled. The aura soon faded away, leaving the dragon to glare at the large green and white creature across the field.

"You seem to be failing to notice that your dragon is still far too weak to do battle with Dreadroot." Gozaburo smartly remarked.

Still smirking, Seto smugly replied "Not quite. You see, I know my dragon isn't ready yet, that is why I have this card! I activate the spell Dragon's Heart! This card allows me to send three Dragon Type monsters from my deck to my Graveyard. In exchange, my dragon gains 1000 extra attack points for this turn alone (3600 + 1000 = 4600/1250)!"

Eyes widening, the robed duelist watched his step son pull his deck out and select three cards from it. Showing them to his step father, Seto smartly said "I send Cave Dragon, Luster Dragon #2, and Hyozanryu to the Grave. Ah yes, there is one other thing I should remind you of. When I placed more dragons in my Grave, Shining Dragon gained another 900 attack points (4600 + 300 * 3 = 5500/1250)."

Releasing a mighty screech, the metallic dragon's body became surrounded by a brilliant white glowing aura while it's strength increased. With it's aura lowering, the dragon turned it's full furious gaze at the large green and white creature.

"Say goodbye to your freak show of a card! Blast it now, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon, with Shining Neutron Blast!"

Roaring loudly once more, the powerful silver metallic dragon opened it's jaws, revealing rainbow colored energy. The energy began forming into a tightly formed sphere within the dragon's maw, seemingly gathering itself together to be fired. Without the slightest hesitation, the dragon launched it's sphere at the large green and white creature, who stood it's ground, seemingly daring the dragon to hit it.

"Foolish move, Seto." Gozaburo chided. "Have you forgotten my trap, Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, already?"

Watching the metallic scarecrow appear before the large green and white creature, Seto smirked, smugly commenting "You underestimate my dragon."

"How so?" the robed duelist questioned.

"When a spell, trap, or monster effect targets my dragon, I decide whether it affects it or not, not you."

Eyes widening, the robed duelist watched in shock as the metal scarecrow shattered, with the duelist in the white trench coat laughing. "I choose to negate your card, so it's gone! Finish off his Dreadroot!"

The sphere of energy continued onwards and slammed hard into the large green and white creature, who released a mighty howl from the strike. A massive explosion sounded off through the air as the green and white creature exploded into millions of pixels and a plume of smoke.

Slowly, the air cleared, revealing the mighty creature was indeed gone, while the silver dragon still hovered in the air, releasing a screech of victory. One by one, the creatures' bodies on the field glowed while their strength returned (3500/2000) (3500/2500) (0/0) (3000 + 1000 + 300 * 10 = 7000/2500) (2800/2800) (3000/1000).

Studying his step father's stony face, the duelist in the white trench coat began laughing madly while pointing an accusing finger at the robed duelist. "I told you step father, you were no match for me! Now look at what happens when you defy me and return from the grave! I'll place one card face down and move to my End Phase, in which my dragon loses it's extra 1000 attack points (6000/2500). I end my move." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 25200)

Casting a small smile at the duelist in the white trench coat next to herself, the lone female duelist drew her new card and calmly said "Time for me to keep this momentum moving, so it starts with this. I'll summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (1400/1000)."

Forming onto the field instantly was a familiar looking slimy silver creature with thousands and thousands of hands pouring out of it's body.

"Thanks to Manju being summoned, I can transfer one Ritual Spell or Monster to my hand from my deck. I choose the later, so I'll move the monster known as Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!"

Pulling her deck out, the female duelist sifted through it for a few moments before finding her desired card. Placing it in her left hand, she shuffled her deck and returned it to it's slot. Selecting another card, she turned it towards the robed duelist, saying "I activate the spell Shinato's Ark! With this, I much sacrifice a monster or monsters with a total of eight stars in order to summon Shinato. I send Manju on the field, along with Dimensional Alchemist, to my Graveyard. Each has a total of four stars a piece, so that's the necessary eight stars to unlock Shinato's Ark, and summon out Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300/3000)!"

Materializing onto the field in a flash was a massive wooden boat. On the front of it were two massive double doors, which suddenly began creaking open, revealing a bright blinding light from within as they did. The blinding light soon died down as a large dark blue skinned angel with long white hair bound in a pony tail, with six massive golden wings appeared at the doors of the boat. The angel wore a long flowing white cape that fell behind itself, a white skirt that came down to it's knees, and blue and gold chest plate. Behind the angel's head was a seven pointed star that looked more like a crown. Fully onto the field, the angel looked at it's opponent with emotionless eyes while the boat behind it vanished.

"Summoning him was pointless!" Gozaburo growled out.

Giggling innocently, Marie replied "Not quite, because I'm equipping Shinato with a spell card called Silver Bow and Arrow! This card raises Shinato's attack and defense by 300 points (3300 + 300 = 3600/3000 + 300 = 3300)!"

Holding out it's arms, the blue skinned angel watched as a silver bow with red tips on the ends of the bow formed.

"Take down his Hyper Psychic Blaster now Shinato, with Silver Arrow Strike!"

Slowly, the angel drew back on the bow, causing a silver energy arrow to form. Pulling the arrow fully back, the angel released it at it's intended target of the white armored warrior, who watched the blast come at it with a bit of nervous shifting.

Growling lightly, Gozaburo roared out "I don't think so, Marie! I reveal the trap Assault Mode Activate! When activated, I can sacrifice one of my Synchro monsters, so I'll sacrifice Hyper Psychic Blaster!"

Vanishing from the field, the white armored warrior disappeared just as the silver energy arrow struck where it had been standing.

"Now I can special summon from my deck Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode (3500 + 500 = 4000/3000)."

Immediately forming on the field was a strange green creature with white and black trim on it's body, a pair of blasters in each hand, with one black and one white, a pair of light blue energy wings on it's back folded out from white prongs that were horizontal, a black and green arch between the wings, and a large green helmet covering the creature's head. Instantly, a small light green circular symbol that was on the field appeared onto the creature's helmet, increasing it's strength.

Staring at the new creature, Marie ground out "You may have summoned that thing, but I can still attack, so I'll do battle with your dragon! Crush it Shinato!"

Taking aim once more, the blue skinned angel released another silver energy arrow, this time launching it in the direction of the black and red dragon. The arrow easily pierced through the dragon, who howled out in pain before exploding and releasing a cloud of smoke onto the field.

The smoke soon settled, revealing a visibly frustrated robed duelist, who shot a glare across the field at the female duelist. Unfazed by it, Marie calmly said "I set one card and end my turn." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 24300)

"Now it's my turn to do my part." Yugi declared while drawing a card. Eyeing it for a moment, he placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot and said "I activate Quick Summon, allowing me to have an extra Normal Summon this turn. I choose to use this and summon Magician's Valkyria (1600/1800)."

A young female mage with long chestnut colored hair that reached her mid-back that wore a mostly light blue with some light purple like dress and an odd looking light blue mage's hat appeared onto the field. She held a scepter in her right hand that looked like a ram's horn on the end of a stick that had three green jewels on each side. The scepter itself was a light gray.

"Don't blink, because you may miss her. I sacrifice her in order to summon Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700)."

In a flash, the young woman on the field vanished, only to be replaced by another young woman, this one with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a skimpy blue and pink mage's dress that showed her cleavage quite well with the dress barely covering her back side, a blue and pink mage's hat, and a staff in her right hand.

Turning another card to the robed duelist, Yugi strongly said "I'm far from done, for I activate another spell, Sage's Stone! When I have Dark Magician Girl on my field, I can special summon from my deck or hand my Duel Spirit, the Dark Magician (2500/2100)!"

Pulling his deck out, the spike haired duelist sifted through his cards till he found the monster he desired. Slapping the card onto his Duel Disk, he watched as a mage with pale skin, purple long hair, and lilac colored eyes, wearing dark purple robes with some battle armor, with a long green staff in his right hand, and a strange mage's hat on his head appeared. Crossing his arms, the mage gave a small nod to the female mage beside of himself, seemingly acknowledging her.

"Both of your weaklings can't do anything against Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode! You creatures have no chance!" Gozaburo roared in defiance.

Cracking a small smirk, Yugi calmly replied "We'll see. Now then, I activate the equip spell Magic Formula! This spell grants Dark Magician an additional 700 attack points (2500 + 700 = 3200/2100), giving him just the boost he needed to help me take you down."

"You must be blind." the robed duelist mocked. "Your creature has 800 less attack points than Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode! Nothing you do can change that!"

Pulling a card from his hand, Yugi smartly remarked "We'll see, now won't we. I activate this spell, Necromancy."

Without warning, the Graveyard Slot of the robed duelist glowed to life and four cards ejected from it and onto his Monster Card Zones, with each being horizontal. First, a blue and yellow armored creature with white and blue gloves on it's hands formed in a kneeling stance; next to it, a black armored warrior riding upon a horse formed, with it's arms crossed and the horse kneeling materialized; appearing next was a sphere of dark cloudy energy; last to form was the black and red dragon.

Seeing the confusion on the robed duelist's face, the spike haired duelist smoothly said "When Necromancy is activated, four random monsters are special summoned from your Graveyard and placed onto your field in defense mode."

"So you're giving me monsters now? That's rather foolish, Yugi."

Chuckling lightly, Yugi shook his head, saying "Not really since I'm about to activate my last spell card, one that will devastate your field. I play Diffusion Wave-Motion, which has me first pay 1000 life points to activate. With those paid, I now select one level seven or higher Spellcaster Type monster on my field, which is obviously my Dark Magician. Dark Magician can now attack all of your monsters on the field."

"What a pointless move." Gozaburo grunted. "Destroying my four weaklings won't help you."

"Actually, it will." Yugi replied in a chipper tone. "Since those four monsters were summoned with the effect of Necromancy, whenever one is destroyed, one of your attack mode monsters loses 400 attack points."

Realization dawning on his face, the robed duelist mumbled "That means you're trying to weaken my monster…"

"That's right, and once I've cut him down far enough, you'll lose your last line of defense and be wide open for Illidan to bash on. And at that, Dark Magician, hit all of his defensive monsters with Dimension Wave-Motion and then wipe out his attack mode monster!"

Holding his staff up over his head, the purple robed mage let out a small battle cry as the tip of his staff began glowing brightly with light blue energy. Without warning, a wave of light blue energy launched itself from the staff, only to be followed by another wave that was diagonal, then another diagonal one on the opposite direction, and finally one last wave that was vertical. One by one, the waves slammed into the defensive monsters, cutting each down upon being struck. At the same time, the powerful white, green, and black colored monster's strength began faltering (4000 – 400 * 4 = 2400/3000). With the warrior being the last on the field, the mage lowered his staff and pointed it straight at the warrior and released a mighty blast of bright green energy. The blast slammed hard into the warrior, making it cry out in pain before exploding.

Growling lightly, the robed duelist suddenly smirked, saying "That was a nice effort, Yugi, but not good enough. You see, when Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode goes to the Graveyard due to battle, I can revive the monster I sacrificed to summon it. So rise up once more, Hyper Psychic Blaster (3000 + 500 = 3500/2500)!"

Reappearing onto the field once more was the silver armored creature with a single teal colored electric eye and pair of blasters in it's hands.

"Damn…" Yugi muttered under his breath. "I have no choice but to end my turn." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 6000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 24300)


	56. Chapter 54: Fight for the Future, Pt 6

**Editor's note: I messed up on the life points at the end of the duel. This is a quick fix. Sorry if it confuses anyone. Yugi was supposed to have 1000 life points tacked on due to Magic Formula's effect, but I somehow or another forgot to. My mistake. Thanks, and sorry for the confusion.**

**Hi everybody! (/Hears everyone reply "Hi Doctor Illidan!"\) Strange… So, life for me is so much fun. The project I'm working on at work has finally begun to take off, with me taking a major step forward I think by drawing up designs of what was in my mind for it. I think that surprised the guy in charge of the project, who was very thankful for my work and worked with me to refine the pages a bit. I sent out my changes Friday, so we'll see how that goes. Moving along to my personal life, I've come to realize I hate birthdays and holidays. There is a good reason before anyone says that's cruel. Reason being is I feel pulled in five directions. There is my dad's side of the family first off, then my mom's side, my mate's family has two directions, and then what I really feel like doing with my mate. Luckily, my mate's family doesn't pull too much, but it's there too. Really, only one side of her family pulls, thankfully. Still, I feel so spread out when a holiday or birthday comes up. Mine and my grandmother's (mother's side) birthday is the same day, next Saturday (the 9****th**** for those who can't figure out the day), which is great, but not at the same time. My step mom wants to go out and eat that day, but it would have to be early, like around noon. Well, my mom is coming in for the weekend also to my grandmother's, so I want to go see them also. But I also want to spend the day with my mate, who wanted to take me out for my birthday. Arg! I want more than anything to keep everybody happy, but at the same time, they drive me nuts! Well, my mate is a given, but all in good fun. Meh, I just wish it was easier for me to do something with all of my family. Oh well…**

**Writing wise, I didn't get anything done really. I tried, but failed spectacularly. I just didn't get much time to be honest at work to do any writing. For once, I was very dedicated to getting stuff done. That's scary, for me, lol. Most likely, I will have a chapter next week, so no worries. I did start on a one-shot called **_**When You're Gone**_** this past weekend. I'm nearly done with it, but have yet to post. It's an Inuyasha fic, so not everyone may be interested. Also, for anyone who were interested in **_**Another**_**, the sequel to it, entitled **_**Reunion**_** will be coming out soon. I'm thinking sometime this month. I said the 11****th****, but I may push that back some more until this story is done. We'll see.**

**And now, time for reviews!**

**The Rainwalker: Lol, thanks about the small Lord of the Rings joke for Hasselberry. Yep, I have a word processor, the dreaded Word 2007 at work and 2003 at home. Hmm, does your word not underline the misspelled word with a squiggly line? Just curious is all. Lol, Yoda you are? Yep, Gozaburo is hanging on like a pit bull on a T-Bone. Heh, yeah, he just won't give up and let the duel go. He refuses to go down quietly, if at all. Thanks about the countermeasures for the group thus far. Uh, about the errors you found, on the first one, I can't find what you're talking about. There is nothing in there about Seto summoning or playing Creeping Dorm. As for Marie's error, I found the same thing. Not quite sure what you're talking about. LOL! Interesting idea on what happens after the duel. I don't think we'll see it, but you'll never know. And yes, my mate and I had a major sweat drop when reading that comment. No problem about the small joke, hehe. Eh, no real financial problems really. I am thankful for what we have though, nonetheless. Hopefully my mate will get her new job. It's what she wants. About Jaden and Alexis, yeah, they've been together. Illidan commented on it during the beginning, and I think the two talked about it also. Heh, I guess liplock could happen sometime or another. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Thanks about the update. Yep, both sides are using some powerful cards. Heh, yep, everyone should stop holding back if they were when a Wicked God is on the field. Eh, I'm not sure about the cutting power in half thing since the Seal was played after Dreadroot. I guess it could cut that bonus in half also, but no idea for sure. I just figured that it probably cut what was on the field in half to begin with, but I could be wrong. It wouldn't surprise me, lol. Ah, didn't know about Necromancy. I thought when I looked it up, it took off 400. My mistake on that one. Heh, yeah, Gozaburo has mad amounts of life points still yet, but they're working on cutting them down. Doubtful if Illidan plays that card if it'll really help. It would take a massive amount of cards for that card to really work out. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. I really appreciate both of them. Heh, I know I say that so often, but it's truthful and reality. Reviews are what help me in figuring out if I'm going the right direction or not. And to any who haven't reviewed, I encourage you to do so. I enjoy hearing feedback of any kind, whether good or bad. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll do my best to answer, so long as they don't give away the plot.**

**At any rate, I'm done for now. I hope you all like this chapter. Enjoy!**

**Duel Stats**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 1150**

**Seto: 900**

**Marie: 6800**

**Yugi: 6000**

**Illidan: 3000**

**Gozaburo: 24300**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Yubel (0/0)**

**Seto: Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (3000 300 * 10 = 6000/2500), Critius, the Legendary Knight (2800/2800)**

**Marie: Shinato, King of a Higher Plane (3300 + 300 = 3600/3000 + 300 = 3300)**

**Yugi: Dark Magician Girl (2000/1700), Dark Magician (2500 + 700 = 3200/2100)**

**Illidan: Silent Magician LV4 (3000/1000) (5 sc) (d)**

**Gozaburo: Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode (3500 + 500 = 4000/3000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: None**

**Seto: FD x 2**

**Marie: Silver Bow and Arrow (s)**

**Yugi: FD, Magic Formula (s)**

**Illidan: FD x 2**

**Gozaburo: Tuner Calling (s), The Seal of Orichalcos (fs), FD**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 0**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 6**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Seto: 2**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 2**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 0**

**Seto: 2**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 2**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Turns since Seto activated Card of Demise: 2**

**Chapter 54**

Drawing a card deliberately slowly, Illidan eyed the new card for a few long moments before cracking a smile. "I think it's time to clear your field. I activate the spell Level Up! Thanks to this card, I can send Silent Magician LV4 to my Graveyard and evolve him to Silent Magician LV8 (3500/1000)!"

Glowing brightly, the white mage suddenly stood up and began growing in height. The glow slowly diminished, revealing an older, more mature version of the white robed mage. His child like looks were gone, but the same kind look he had held remained.

"And now, I activate the spell Cost Removal! For this card to take effect, I have to ditch a card from my hand."

Selecting a card, the brown haired duelist placed it into his Graveyard Slot, which quickly sucked the card down. Returning his attention to the robed duelist, Illidan calmly said "Now the effect of Cost Removal comes into play. For this turn alone, I don't have to pay any life points for any spell, trap, or monster effect that requires a cost. Next, I activate the spell Future Fusion."

Pulling his deck out, the brown haired duelist sifted through it for a moment before selecting two cards. Shuffling his deck and returning it to it's slot, he continued on, saying "Whenever Future Fusion is activated, I'm allowed to send Fusion Material monsters to my Graveyard, and in two of my Standby Phases, I can special summon the Fusion Type monster that was created by the monsters I discarded. The two monsters I'm sending to the Graveyard are two Cyber Dragons (2100/1600). That means in two turns, I get Cyber Twin Dragon."

Watching the back of the brown haired duelist, Zane whispered in his mind "_Is he doing what I think he's doing? If he is, this should turn the tables of the duel, once more._"

"Is something wrong Zane?" Syrus asked with concern in his eyes.

Glancing down at his brother, the duelist in the black trench coat shook his head, saying "No, everything is fine. I'm just curious to see what Illidan is doing."

"Same here. I think he's up to something big." Jesse commented.

Speaking up, Chazz casually said "Without a doubt. He's always one step ahead of his competition, so it wouldn't surprise me if he mops the floor with that guy."

"But what does Professor Illidan have planned?" Alexis questioned.

Back on the field, Illidan smirked at the robed duelist, saying "I play this, the spell Power Bond!"

"What does that do?" Gozaburo questioned in a fierce tone.

"_More than you'll ever know._" Zane remarked in his mind. Memories of all his battles where he used the card replayed throughout his mind, till finally he remembered one duel when Illidan and he had battled. "_In the end, Illidan proved much more capable of using that card than I ever was._"

Smirking at the bewildered look on the face of the robed duelist, Illidan coolly said "Whenever I activate Power Bond, I can fuse together monsters to form a Machine Fusion Type monster."

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smugly remarked "Then you are a fool. I know for a fact you only have two Machine Fusion Type monsters, and both require two of the monsters you discarded. So much for your grand plan to use Power Bond!"

"My move is not complete." the brown haired duelist replied in a calm tone. Selecting another card from his hand, he turned it towards the robed duelist, saying "I activate another spell, this one being a Quick Play one. Go Cybernetic Fusion Support! With this card, I can pay half my life points, which I don't have to due to Cost Removal, and look in my Graveyard for all the Fusion Material monsters on a Machine Fusion Type monster's text. If they're all in my Graveyard, I can remove them from play and use this card as a substitute for those monsters. Since the monster I want to summon requires three Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), I can do just that."

"Wait, how did the third Cyber Dragon get in your Grave!?" Gozaburo demanded.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan asked "You didn't forget about Cost Removal, did you?"

Brow furrowing, the robed duelist eyes widened while he mumbled "You discarded it then…"

"That's right, Gozaburo. I sent my third Cyber Dragon to the Grave when I activated Cost Removal. And now, I remove all three Cyber Dragons in order to call forth the Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"

Materializing onto the field instantly were three silver machine snake like dragons, with each letting out a mechanical roar. The three soon vanished, causing a blinding white light to fill the field. Slowly, the light receded, revealing a large three headed snake like machine dragon with massive wings on it's back. The three heads connected to a central point where from on back there was one tail. Each head had a bit of a different look, with each having gold mechanical eyes. The three heads immediately let out a loud roar, shaking the very ground the duelists stood on.

"And now that Cyber End Dragon is on the field, the effect of Power Bond kicks in. It automatically doubles the Fusion monster's attack points (4000 * 2 = 8000/2800)!"

"WHAT!?" Gozaburo roared in shock. "That can't be!"

Cracking a smile, Illidan replied "But it be, Gozaburo. Cyber End Dragon, attack his Hyper Psychic Blaster with Super Strident Blaze!"

Releasing a mighty roar, the three headed machine dragon took aim with it's three heads. Each opened their maws, revealing blinding and sizzling white energy. Together, the three heads fired a stream of white blazing energy, which melded together into one single beam and went racing towards the armored warrior. The stream engulfed the warrior instantly, seemingly incinerating it instantly. Not stopping there, the blast raced past the spot where the warrior had stood and slammed into the robed duelist, who screamed out loudly as the blast surrounded himself. A massive explosion ensued, causing dust and debris to go flying into the air.

Bit by bit, the smoke and debris settled, revealing the robed duelist was still standing, but just barely. His robes had wisps of smoke pouring off of them and the robes were tattered from the impact of the blast.

"I'm far from through with you, Gozaburo." Illidan declared in a cold tone. "That was just a small sample of the anger I have for what you did to my family. Now get ready, because it's time for Silent Magician LV8 to direct attack you! Go, Silent Scepter Blast!"

Leaping into the air, the white robed mage turned his scepter towards the robed duelist and began building up energy within his staff. Without warning, the face down card on the robed duelist's field rose up, making the mage stop for a moment.

Casting a death glare at the brown haired duelist, Gozaburo coldly said "You will pay for that, Illidan Stormrage. I activate my face down spell, A Deal with Dark Ruler. This activates when I lose a level eight or above monster is destroyed on my field. I can now special summon this card from my deck, Berserk Dragon (3500 + 500 = 4000/0)."

Rising up onto the field without warning was a dark brown skinned dragon with rough scales covering it's body, sharp clawed hands and feet, spikes sticking out of it's knees and along the top of it's tail, a pair of leathery wings with spikes at the tops of it's wings, a skull like head with many sharp fangs, two horns on the sides of it's head, a long dark purple mane, and red glowing eyes. Fully on the field, the dragon released a sickening roar in an attempt to frighten the white robed mage who was mid-air.

"So, are you still attacking, Illidan?" the robed duelist taunted.

Eyeing the dragon for a moment, the brown haired duelist let out a small sigh before placing the final card in his hand into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I won't, but I will activate the spell Mirage of Nightmare. With this card, whenever it's your Standby Phase, I draw till I hold four cards, but during my Standby Phase, I must discard the same number of cards I drew. At that, I end my…"

"Not so fast, Illidan! You forget, your Power Bond's effect is about to take away some life points." Gozaburo smugly declared.

Lightly chuckling, Illidan shook his head, saying "You seem to have a short term memory. Let me remind you of the second card I played this turn. It was Cost Removal, which lasts all during my turn. Since it's my End Phase, it still protects me from the effect of Power Bond. So much for wishful thinking, Gozaburo. At that, I end." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 900, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 6000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 18200)

Picking up his new card, the robed duelist began to speak, only to be cut off by the brown haired duelist. "Don't forget Gozaburo, since you just entered into your Standby Phase, I get to draw four new cards due to the effect of Mirage of Nightmare."

Watching the brown haired duelist pick up four new cards, Gozaburo shrugged, saying "It does not matter. I activate the spell Pot of Avarice, which allows me to transfer five monsters from my Graveyard to my deck, then shuffle and draw two new cards. The five I'm returning are Hyper Psychic Blaster, Hyper Psychic Blaster/Assault Mode, Void Mercenary, Dark Sphere, and Krebons."

One by one, the named monster cards slid out of the robed duelist's Graveyard Slot. Picking them, he shuffled one of the cards into his Extra Deck, while the other went back to his normal deck. Finishing, he picked up two new cards and eyed both.

"I now play the spell Double Spell. With this, I toss out a spell card from my hand and then I can activate any spell card within any of your Graveyards."

Picking the card to discard, he turned it towards the group, making the demoness before the younger duelist gasp in shock. Seeing the reaction, the robed duelist smirked and said "I send Abyss Corona – The Third Rift to the Grave."

"_That was the third card of his three card combo._" Yubel mentally called out to Jaden. "_Why he's tossing it out so carelessly, I don't know._"

"_Probably because his first two cards of the combo are already gone. Remember, without the first card, the combo can't be complete. Marie saw to it to destroy Azure Corona, and without it, Twilight Corona was destroyed. I can only assume the same is for Abyss Corona, so it's useless to him._"

Eyeing the robed duelist while he placed his card into his Graveyard Slot, the demoness remarked to the young duelist "_I still don't like it._"

"Now that I discarded my card, I can use any spell in your Graveyards." Gozaburo declared, causing the demoness and the young duelist to return their attention to him. "My choice is not hard. I choose Seto's Card of Demise, meaning I can now draw till I hold five cards in my hand."

Wordlessly, the robed duelist picked up the top four cards on his deck and placed them neatly into his left hand. Selecting one, he turned it towards the group, saying "I activate this spell, Sacrificial Token Summoning. To use it, I must sacrifice a monster on my field, so be gone Berserk Dragon!"

Vanishing from the field with a low growl, the brown skinned dragon vanished, only to be replaced by four tombstones. Seeing the numerous frowns, the robed duelist darkly chuckled at each of his opponents' confusion.

"By playing Sacrificial Token Summoning, I gain Sacrificial Tokens (1000 + 500 = 1500/1000) for each 1000 attack points that the sacrificed monster had. Since Berserk Dragon had 4000 attack points, I gained four tokens. There is a bright side, I suppose, for if I don't use all of these tokens by the end of my turn, they're destroyed. But don't worry, three out of four won't remain here for too long."

Sneering, Gozaburo selected a card from his hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I sacrifice three of my Sacrificial Tokens in order to summon the second of the Wicked Gods. Now rise, The Wicked Eraser (?/?)!"

One by one, three of the tombstones disappeared, only to have a tower of flames erupt from the ground. Out of the sides of the flames, a pair of bronzed leathery wings spread out, along with a long bronze tail. Next to appear were a pair of sharp clawed hands that looked like feet on a bird of prey. At long last, the tower of flames vanished, revealing the main part of the creature's bronzed body. It had wide shoulders with pointed shoulder pads, a single light green gem on it's chest, and an elongated neck that held it's head to it's body. The creature's head itself was long and pointed, with many fangs poking out of it's mouth, and a pair of backwards curved horns. On the top of the creatures head, back flowing bronze metal scales ran down half of it's neck. At last fully on the field, the creature released a horrendous roar, seemingly shaking the entire dimension to it's core.

"Insane…" Jaden mumbled while staring in awe of the creature.

Looking at the creature, Yugi whispered "That is the darkness of Slifer the Sky Dragon…"

"Don't let it intimidate you guys." Illidan called out, earning all of his friends' attention. "It may be big, but that doesn't mean a thing."

Sneering at the brown haired duelist, the robed duelist smugly replied "Oh but it does, Illidan. And in a few moments, you'll learn just how terrifying The Wicked Eraser truly is. In the meantime, Tuner Calling's effect is activating. I can now special summon a Tuner Type monster from my deck to the field, so I pick Krebons (1200 + 500 = 1700/800)."

Reappearing onto the field for it's third appearance in the duel was the blue and yellow armored creature with white and blue gloves on it's hands.

"And then there is the effect of Eraser that I need to explain. For every card on your group's side of the field, Wicked Eraser gains 1000 attack and defense points."

All eyes widened upon the declaration of the robed duelist. In a mere whisper, Illidan quietly said "That means..."

"That means all those spell, trap, and monster cards you stockpiled are about to be used against you!" Gozaburo stated. "Now, let's count how many cards all of you have."

"Jaden, you have one monster, plus two face down cards. Seto has two monsters, plus two face down cards. Then there is Marie, with a single monster, a face down, and a spell card. Yugi there has two monsters, plus a face down and a spell card. And at long last, Illidan, you have two monsters, two face down cards, and two face up spell cards. Altogether, that is twenty cards, meaning Wicked Eraser now gains 20000 attack and defense points, plus 500 more attack points due to the Seal of Orichalcos (0 + 20 * 1000 + 500 = 20500/0 + 20 * 1000 = 20000)."

With a deafening roar, the bronze skinned creature spread out it's wings to their full extent as it's body glowed with a blinding golden glow. The creature's points immediately shot up with incredible speed. Finishing powering up, the large creature released a mighty roar again, causing the clothing of all of the duelists to ripple in the fierce wind.

Evilly sneering, Gozaburo looked from duelist to duelist and mockingly asked "Now then, who should I destroy? I can obliterate any of you at this point with Wicked Eraser in a single shot. Not even you, Illidan, can withstand Eraser's assault."

Eyes finally resting on his step son at long last, the robed duelist coldly said "I have decided to destroy you first, Seto. It was you that destroyed Wicked Dreadroot, so I think it's only fitting that Wicked Eraser obliterate you. The Duel Energy you give shall be much appreciated. It is the only thing you will have ever done right, for me."

"I wouldn't count on getting my soul or my Duel Energy, step father, because I activate my face down trap, Ring of Destruction, and I'll use it on your Eraser!"

Forming on the field instantly was a metal collar with eight red bombs attached to the collar. The collar suddenly began spinning and raced across the field and slipped over the head of the bronze skinned creature. Without warning, the collar tightened around the neck of the creature, making it roar loudly and begin clawing at the collar in an attempt to break free.

"When Ring of Destruction is activated, I choose a monster on the field and attach it to it. That monster is then destroyed and both my opponent and myself are dealt life point damage equal to that monster's attack points. In other words, that ring is about to blow you away and end this insanity, once and for all." Seto remarked.

Smirking, Gozaburo coolly asked "You would sacrifice yourself to save that child, wouldn't you?"

"I would do anything for Arya. If need be, I would give my life to protect her! That is why I'll take you down, so she can once more be reunited with her parents!"

Pointing at his other face down card, Seto added "But I'm not about to die in this place. I chain my spell card, Ring of Defense!"

Appearing onto the field before the duelist in the white trench coat was a thick metal ring with four green shields that had gold trim attached to the sides of the ring. Slowly, the ring began spinning, causing the ring to become a frontal shield for the duelist in the white trench coat.

Releasing a dark chuckle, the robed duelist smugly said "You are very predictable, my step son, and for that, I must thank you. Because of your move, I have found a way to rid myself of you. I activate the spell known as Spell Transference. With this card, I'm allowed to transfer the effect of your card to myself, leaving you with nothing."

Eyes widening, the duelist in the white trench coat watched as the spinning ring before himself vanished, only to reappear before his step father and begin spinning once more. Looking up at the large bronze creature that was being squeezed by the large collar on it's throat, Seto lowered his eyes beneath the shadow of his bangs.

"Seto…" Illidan whispered with a pang of sadness in his voice.

Eyes filling with tears, Marie shook her head, quietly saying "No, not Seto. Please, don't…"

Staring at his long time rival and friend, the spike haired duelist couldn't help but let a few tears slid down his own cheeks. Memories of all of their past battles ran through his mind, along with the times the two had become close friends.

Looking at the duelist in the white trench coat, Jaden couldn't help but feel his own heart ache. "_He deserves better than this fate._"

Raising his head at long last, Seto calmly said "Illidan, Marie, Jaden, and Yugi, I want you three to save Arya, no matter what. I know the four of you can do it. If you do, I know I'll return. Just do what you must to save her, no matter what."

Smiling, the duelist in the white trench coat added "We'll see one another again, I know it. For now, farewell."

"How beautiful Seto, but I'm afraid your time has come. Farewell, step son!" Gozaburo declared while laughing manically.

At that moment, the collar around the large bronze creature suddenly exploded, blowing away the creature in a single explosion. The blast traveled across the field and slammed hard into the duelist with the white trench coat, who held his head up high even as the full impact of the blast hit him. Smoke and debris coated the field, hiding everything from the group inside and outside of the barrier.

Little by little, the smoke cleared, revealing a completely empty field of play for all of the duelists. Ignoring this fact, the duelists turned their attention to the one spot on the field where the smoke had yet to clear, which was where the duelist in the white trench coat had been standing last.

At last, the smoke cleared, revealing Seto was still standing, but his eyes seemed glazed over and his body was trembling. He was barely breathing and had his arms crossed out in front of his body, seemingly shielding himself from the blast. Slowly, his arms fell to his sides, but only moments later, he suddenly fell forward and slammed face first into the ground.

"SETO!" the four duelists on the field yelled in unison while each bolted towards their fallen friend.

Dark maniacal laughter filled the air while the four began to check on their friend. Watching the duelists examine the fallen duelist, Gozaburo continued his dark laughter. "Seto, you are truly foolish, and now it is time to pay for it. Sacred Seal, take his soul while the Shadows eat away his Duel Energy!"

The group all at once backed away from the fallen duelist when his body suddenly began to glow with a dark orange aura. In a flash, the aura vanished, only to have the green circle that the group was standing in have a piece of if encircle the unconscious duelist. It glowed brightly for a moment before dying down and seemingly vanishing.

Seeing the process was over, the group moved in again, finding that the body of the fallen duelist was still alive, but barely. His breathing was shallow and his heart rate was barely that of a live person.

"Seto, no…" Marie sobbed out while tears rolled down her cheeks.

Watching his wife sob, Illidan couldn't help but feel his own heart break. "_Seto, you gave everything to try and help us save Arya. Your sacrifice won't be in vain, I swear it!_"

In a low, feral tone, Jaden turned his eyes towards the robed duelist, which were now green and orange in color, and said "You will pay for this, I swear it…"

Sneering at the group, the robed duelist coolly replied "I don't fear any of you. None of you have the power to stop me."

"Still, I guess I should explain why all of the cards that were on the field are gone. It all has to do with Wicked Eraser's final special ability. When it is destroyed, all cards on the field are instantly destroyed also. Basically, we all start from scratch once more."

Casting a glare at the robed duelist, the four remaining duelists moved back into their original positions, with each glancing over at their fallen friend. Turning their full attention to the robed duelist, each hardened their eyes, seemingly readying themselves for what was to come.

"Your Wicked Eraser may have wiped the field clean, but it helped me out." Yugi coldly spoke up. "When Magic Formula goes to the Graveyard, I gain 1000 life points."

Shrugging, Gozaburo retorted "It matters not to me. For now, I shall lay one face down card and end my turn." (Jaden = 1150, Seto = 0, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 18200)

Snapping off his top card, Jaden eyed it for a few long moments before turning it towards the robed duelist, saying "I play Fifth Hope! With this spell, I can take five Elemental Heroes from my Graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck, and once done, I get two new cards."

"The five I'm choosing are Elemental Heroes Avian, Sparkman, Bubbleman, Prisma, and Neos."

One by one, the five chosen monster cards slid out of the young duelist's Graveyard Slot and stacked themselves up on the outside of the Slot. With all five finally accumulated, he picked them up and silently shuffled them into his deck, which he soon returned to it's slot once he was finished. Picking up two more cards, he eyed them before selecting one and showing it to the robed duelist.

"I activate Monster Reborn, allowing me to revive Yubel (0/0)!"

Instantly, the female demon revived onto the field and cast a fierce glare at the robed duelist, who seemed unfazed by her actions.

"That was pointless." Gozaburo commented. "Her effect would be helpful, if I had a monster, but seeing how I don't, it was a useless gesture to restore her to the field."

Undeterred by his opponent's words, Jaden selected the other card he had drawn and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I'm now going to use Elemental Hero Necroshade's special ability. I put him in the Graveyard quite a while ago, and once per a duel, I can summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice, so here comes Elemental Hero Neos (2500/2000)!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash of rainbow colored energy was the familiar white muscular warrior with the slicked back horn.

"And with him on the field, I can now send both Yubel and Neos to the Graveyard to call upon their merged form! Get ready to meet Neos Wiseman (3000/3000)!"

Casting a glance at one another, the female demon and the white warrior nodded to one another and launched themselves into the air. In mid-air, the pair reached out to one another and grasped one another's hands. A brilliant white glow enveloped the field immediately, causing everyone to cover their eyes. After nearly a minute, the light died, down, revealing a new creature floating in the place of the two. Slowly, the features of the creature became more and more visible. The bottom half of the creature was mostly white, with exception of from it's knees down, which were dark brown, which mixed in above them and formed spikes off of the creature's hips. From it's lower chest up, the dark brown became the primary color, with the white completely fading and being replaced by some red. In the center of the creature's chest was a large blue circle, with red streaking out from it in small bands, with some on the creature's neck. The creature's arms were a bit larger than normal, with both being brown and some red on the insides of them. Each of the hands of the creature were clawed and curled into tight fists, while a single spike jutted out from the outside of it's wrists, another spike from it's elbows, and finally two on each shoulder. The creature's face was only revealed from it's nose down, showing it had purple skin like the demoness. The remainder of the creature's head had a single red eye like plate, and a pair of leathery wings growing out from the sides of it's head that were at least five feet in length and a set of two spikes on each side of the top part of them. Staring down at the field, the creature remained airborne for a few more moments before lowering itself to the ground before the young duelist.

"So, you merged your Neos and Yubel together? Interesting combination." Gozaburo whimsically remarked.

Not dignifying the comment with a response, Jaden called out "Neos Wiseman, show him your true power of a joint effort! Crush him with Ultimate Nova!"

Taking to the air once more, the white and dark brown creature let out a low growl while light blue energy began forming across it's body.

"It is a sound strategy, Jaden Yuki, but I have something to say about you directly attacking, for I play my face down trap!" Gozaburo declared. "Rise up now, Metal Reflect Slime!"

Forming before the robed duelist instantly was a silver sphere of ooze. It suddenly became active, with several spikes sticking out of it, the bottom of it lengthening into a shaft with a spiked end on it.

"When played, Metal Reflect Slime becomes a monster on my field, in defense position (0 + 500 = 500/3000). Now then, if you want to continue to attack, feel free, but you'll get nowhere."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Jaden finally smirked, saying "I think I'll take you up on that offer, Gozaburo. Neos Wiseman, continue your attack!"

Still in mid-air, the white and dark brown creature let out a low grunt while several light blue energy points of light began forming. Without warning, beams of light blue energy flew from the energy points and slammed into the silver ooze creature. The ooze appeared to be holding it's ground till suddenly a few energy blasts passed through it and struck the robed duelist, making him cry out in pain.

Recovering, Gozaburo snarled out "What happened!? Your monster's attack points and my monster's defense points are equal, so the battle should have resulted in no damage!"

"Normally, you'd be right." Jaden commented while still smirking. "But this time, you're wrong. You see, Neos Wiseman has a special ability. Whenever he attacks a monster, during the end of the Damage Step, my opponent is dealt direct damage equal to the monster's attack points while I gain life points equal to your monster's defense points. In other words, even though I did no Battle Damage, I still dealt you some life point damage while I gained some."

Watching the robed duelist growl lowly, the young duelist selected the last two cards in his hand and placed them into two empty Spell/Trap Slots, saying "I'll throw down two face downs and end my turn." (Jaden = 4150, Seto = 0, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 17700)


	57. Chapter 55: Fight for the Future, Pt 7

**Hey everyone. First off, I apologize to everyone reading for not getting this chapter out last week. I intended to, but last week was really hectic at work and I didn't get to a chance to finish. Then last weekend was just as busy, with it being my Grandmother and my own birthdays and all, plus Mother's Day. I did have a good birthday though. I saw pretty much all of my family, plus got a new iPod touch, which is really sweet thus far. I'm having a lot of fun with it. Too bad I can't really use it at home. We don't have wireless at home, so that bites, but oh well, it happens. Anyways, other than that, not too much has happened since last time. My grandfather as well as can be expected. He wished me a happy birthday and all, which was very nice. Other than that, there is really not much else that has happened, so at that, I think I'll move on.**

**Writing wise, I explained pretty much what happened. Actual work took top priority (for once, lol), so no go on writing, but I did make up for that Tuesday and yesterday, so all is good once more. I've been trying to decide what I should do since I am splitting my time between this story and my sequel to **_**Another**_**, **_**Reunion**_**, and I think I've finally decided. My decision is I will finish this story before continuing to put more work into **_**Reunion**_**. As much as I love that story, I can't keep splitting my time like this, plus I want to finish this story, so I will try and finish it first, then work on **_**Reunion**_** once I finish. I'll try and continue to post weekly, but no promises still.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**The Rainwalker: Thanks for the glorious part, lol. Ah, I see about the squiggly lines for misspellings. Lol, the Yoda thing didn't bother me. I do that from time to time myself. My wife sometimes finds it funny, but not often. Often Yoda left out in the cold, yes… Cool that you finish your two projects for Kumoricon. Ah, so it means cloudy. Very true about the publications. Good luck with that. Yep, Gozaburo managed to hold off Illidan and the others. Lol, yeah, The Wicked Eraser (Slifer's darkness) was amazing. When I first read about it, I was like, eh, it won't have many points. Then I remembered technically, the five duelists share one field, thus giving it an opening for way more points than ever thought possible. So true about Gozaburo taking out Seto. No doubt others will fall before Gozaburo's hell-bent obsession to eliminate them all. Yeah, Gozaburo had no reason to expect Neos Wiseman to have an ability like that one. I'm sure the others have plenty left for him also. I'll PM you where I do my research primarily for the cards. Heh, yeah, work is fun as always. I did finish my wireframes last week, but I had to tweak them again this week after another meeting. I'm up to my 4****th**** iteration, but it's no problem, unlike the last time I drew these things up for a previous project. We had different software to do them in, and that took like a week or two just to do one iteration. With this new software, it took me one day to do them, then two days to do another iteration. That's about been the standard since. Heh, going Northwest would be fun, but not likely at this time. My wife has yet to hear about her job. Last she heard last week was one of the references for the other person was on vacation and holding up the process. Once they got back, they would finish up and let her and the other person know who gets the job. If I get a chance to speak to those two authors, I'll do it, but right now, I'm pretty maxed out. We'll see though. Some reviewers are just harsh, though I've yet to have that problem for some reason. I think I've only had one or two rough customers, and that was early on during **_**Tournament of Power**_**, but we talked it over and got it fixed. Thanks for the review as always.**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Thanks. Lol, yes, the end was the worst part, hehe. Ah, I see what you mean. True, Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon should have really had it's bonus cut, maybe. I'm not sure to be honest. It doesn't apply I thought until it's been summoned, but I am probably wrong on that account. Well, that's the problem with Critius, his effect couldn't have saved Kaiba unfortunately. I haven't really shown his effect in play, thus leaving a lot open to interpretation. Even though the Wicked Gods have the title of gods, it's just that, unlike the Egyptian Gods, who were more immune or less effected by certain spells and traps. Thanks once more for your review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, both of you, for reviewing. I really appreciated it.**

**At that, I'm done for today. I'll post again next week, so till then, enjoy!**

**Duel Stats**

**Life Points:**

**Jaden: 4150**

**Marie: 6800**

**Yugi: 7000**

**Illidan: 3000**

**Gozaburo: 17700**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: Neos Wiseman (3000/3000)**

**Marie: None**

**Yugi: None**

**Illidan: None**

**Gozaburo: Metal Reflect Slime (0 + 500 = 500/3000)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Jaden: None**

**Marie: None**

**Yugi: None**

**Illidan: None**

**Gozaburo: Metal Reflect Slime (t)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Jaden: 0**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 4**

**Gozaburo: 2**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Jaden: 1**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 0**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Jaden: 0**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 0**

**Gozaburo: 0**

**Turns since Gozaburo activated Card of Demise: 0**

**Chapter 55**

Staring at the silver metal monster before the robed duelist, the female duelist slowly drew her next card and eyed it for a long moment. Glancing up again, her brow furrowed while taking a quick glance at her own cards.

"_Nothing in my hand can beat that thing. All I can do for now is hold out until one of the others comes up with a plan._"

Inwardly smirking, she added "_But that doesn't mean I can't help wear him down some more._"

Selecting a card in her left hand, she slapped it horizontally onto her Duel Disk, saying "I think I'll summon Nurse Reficule the Fallen One (1400/600) in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field in a defensive stance was a female creature with purple hair that fell below her shoulders, but on the ends of her hair were sharp blades. On her back was a pair of wings that were a sickly green color with red spines and silver metal blades on the spines. Her entire body, with exception of some skin on her face was covered in white bandages. Only her right eye and part of her cheek and mouth were uncovered, revealing cream colored skin.

"To end, I'll place one card face down." (Jaden = 4150, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 17700)

Picking up a new card himself, the spike haired duelist glanced at the card before being interrupted by Marie. "Hold that thought there, Yugi. I'm playing my face down trap, Gift Card! Thanks to this card, my opponent gains 3000 life points."

Frowning, Gozaburo began to ask something when suddenly the bandaged creature before the female duelist began glowing with a dark red aura. Without warning, the creature let out a small screech just as a wave of dark red energy erupted from her and slammed into the robed duelist, who let out a howl of pain and was brought to one knee.

"What have you done to me!?" the robed duelist demanded while standing with fury flashing in his eyes.

Giggling innocently, Marie simply replied "Nothing really. You see, while Reficule is on the field, anytime your life points would increase due to some effect, you are instead dealt direct damage equal to the amount you were to gain."

Growling loudly, the robed duelist clenched his right hand tightly while sending a devastating dark glare at the female duelist. Ignoring it, she added "You should never have harmed Seto. For what you did, none of us will hold back. The end is coming, Gozaburo."

"You talk mighty, but not a single one of you can stop me. I fear none of you."

Shrugging, the female duelist replied "I don't care if you do or not. Just know that we'll take you down, no matter what. Now then, Yugi, why don't you go ahead and show him what you've got."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Yugi quietly placed the card he had drawn onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I summon Queen's Knight (1500/1600) in defense mode."

Appearing onto the field was a woman in pink armor with long flowing blonde hair that fell to just above her butt with a sword in her left hand and an arrow head shaped shield in her right, and on her head was a towering helmet. Quietly, she lowered herself into a kneeling stance while placing her shield safely before her body.

"I end my move." (Jaden = 4150, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 14700)

Snapping off the top card of his deck, Illidan glanced at the card before smirking. "I must thank you for destroying my Mirage of Nightmare during your turn. I didn't have a card to get rid of it on my own, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is you're going to pay for what you did to Seto, and it begins right now! I play Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)!"

A mage in maroon colored armor and robes with a sword and maroon shield, along with a maroon cape appeared. Very little of the mages blue skin could be seen on his face, for it was covered by a large cone hat.

"When Breaker is Normal Summoned, he automatically gains one Spell Counter. That triggers his second ability. For every Spell Counter he has, he gains 300 attack points (1600 + 300 = 1900/1000)."

The center circle on the mage's shield instantly flared to life with a light blue glow.

Smirking, the brown haired duelist continued on, saying "I now remove Breaker's Spell Counter to activate his final ability (1900 – 300 = 1600/1000). By removing his Spell Counter, he can destroy one spell or trap card on your side of the field. Since Metal Reflect Slime was originally a trap card, it still has the weaknesses of a trap card. Breaker, destroy that slime ball!"

Pointing his shield at the silver slime creature, the robed mage's shield began glowing brightly with light blue energy. In a flash, a stream of light blue energy shot forward and slammed into the slime creature. The creature immediately shattered, sending pixels scattering across the field and leaving the robed duelist growling lowly.

"I'm not through with you yet. Breaker, direct attack! This one's for Seto!"

Moving into a quick run, the robed mage moved at full speed at the robed duelist. In a flash, he vanished, leaving a bewildered robed duelist standing. A moment passed and the mage reappeared behind the duelist with his sword swung out to his right side. Without warning, the three red marks appeared on the robed duelist's body, making him howl out in pain.

Watching his monster return before him, the brown haired duelist coldly said "That is nothing compared to what I plan on doing to you. You will not get away with what you did and plan to do, Gozaburo. I lay one face down and end my move." (Jaden = 4150, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)

"You will pay for your insolence, Illidan Stormrage." Gozaburo ground out while drawing his new card. Eyeing it for a moment, he smirked, saying "I activate the spell Magical Stone Excavation. This card forces me to discard two cards from my hand, but that is a fair price, seeing how I can return a spell from my Graveyard to my hand."

Placing the two remaining cards he held into his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist coolly said "I will now return Card of Sanctity to my hand."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the robed duelist pushed out the desired spell card into his awaiting hand. Without hesitation, he turned it towards the group. "I now activate Card of Sanctity, meaning all of us draw till we hold six cards."

Glancing from one another, the four duelists slowly, along with the robed duelist, began drawing cards. The female duelist and the spike haired duelist both picked up five, while the brown haired one picked up three, but the youngest of the group and the robed figure both drew six.

At the same time, both the female duelist and the spike haired duelist selected a card from their hand, and in unison, said "I special summon Watapon (200/300), in defense."

Two small pink fur balls, each with bright purple eyes and two small antennas that had pink puff balls on them, immediately appeared onto the field on a horizontal card images before the two duelists.

"When Watapon is drawn into our hands by a spell, trap, or monster effect, it's automatically special summoned to the field." Marie calmly remarked.

Shrugging, the robed duelist coolly said "It matters not, for the end is near for one of you. You see, I play my Quick Play Spell called Drawing Token Summoner! When played, for every card one of my opponent's drew, I can summon a Drawing Token (100 + 500 = 600/100). The person I'm choosing to target is you, Jaden, meaning I gain six Drawing Tokens!"

"Wait, you can only have five monsters on your field!" the young duelist protested.

Casting a small glance at his young friend, the brown haired duelist calmly said "Not quite, Jaden. Don't forget, he has The Seal of Orichalcos in play still. With it out, he can have up to ten monsters."

"Oh yeah… I forgot…" Jaden grumbled.

Smirking, Gozaburo smugly said "I shall place three of those tokens on the Front Row, while the other three shall be on the Back Row."

Appearing one at a time were card shaped creatures in two rows with three in each row.

All of the group couldn't help but suppress a gasp of shock at the appearance of the creatures. A bit of sweat ran down the sides of each of the group.

Sneering, the robed duelist spoke up, asking "All of you know what is about to happen, don't you?"

"You're summoning another of those Wicked God Cards." Illidan responded in a steely voice.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo coolly replied "You catch on quickly, Illidan. That is correct, I am summoning the third of the Wicked Gods. I sacrifice the three Drawing Tokens on my Front Row in order to summon the third Wicked God, The Wicked Avatar (?/?)!"

Vanishing one by one, the three front card creatures disappeared while the sky seemed to darken even more. Slowly falling from the clouds was a massive black orb that had a dark aura resonating from it. Coming to a stop about fifty feet and seemingly hovering over the field, the black sphere released a brilliant dark glow.

"So that's it… That's the third Wicked God?" Jaden questioned aloud.

Eyeing the sphere, Yugi softly added "It looks like Ra when it was kept in it's sphere form."

"Yeah, but it appears the darkness of Ra's heart has chosen to remain within it's sphere form for this fight." Marie commented.

Remaining quiet, the brown haired duelist kept his eyes focused on the massive black sphere. "_It must have enormous power, much like the others._"

"I see that all of you are ogling over my Wicked Avatar." the robed duelist spoke up, earning all of the group's attention. "I suppose I should begin telling you what to expect. First off, the power of Avatar is far beyond the others. Don't expect any weaknesses within it. The first effect that Avatar has is it keeps all four of you from activating any spell or trap cards until the end of your second turn from when Avatar was summoned."

"WHAT!?" Jaden exclaimed. "You mean all we have are monster effects!?"

Clenching his right hand, Yugi growled out "That leaves us rather wide open for whatever he chooses to use on us."

"Yeah, no joke. We're pretty much sitting ducks." Marie concurred.

Remaining quiet for a moment, Illidan calmly said "Don't panic. We can do this."

"Easier said than done." Marie snidely remarked.

Seemingly amused by the chatter between the four duelists, the robed duelist cleared his throat and noted all looked at him promptly. "The next effect of Wicked Avatar is about to come into play. You see, while on the field, Avatar's attack and defense points are determined by looking for the strongest monster on the field. Since Jaden's Neos Wiseman has 3000 attack points, it is the strongest without an argument. Now, Avatar's attack and defense are set equal to Neos Wiseman's points, plus 100 (3000 + 100 = 3100/3000 + 100 = 3100)."

Eyes widening, the group couldn't help but suppress a gasp of shock as the dark sphere suddenly glowed to life with a dark red aura.

"Just great…" Jaden mumbled in irritation.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo continued on, saying "And then there is the extra power of The Seal of Orichalcos. Normally, field spells and equip spell cards wouldn't effect Avatar, but the power of The Seal is far greater than what Avatar can stand. So now, it gains another 500 attack points (3100 + 500 = 3600/3100)!"

Without warning, a green symbol, the same as the one on the field, appeared on what would be near the top of the dark sphere. Immediately, the sphere's power seemed to grow while a low grumbling sound could be heard from within the sphere.

Sneering at the group, the robed duelist smugly said "There is one last card I need to add to Avatar to make it the perfect war machine. I activate the equip spell Power Struggle, and equip it to my Wicked Avatar. This card won't do anything to my monster's attack or defense points, but it grants it a unique ability. When it destroys a monster in battle, my opponent takes direct damage to their life points equal to their destroyed monster's attack points."

"Just like Power Zone, but in an equip spell form instead." Marie commented.

"That's right, Marie." Gozaburo remarked. "And the last surprise I have is one that will shake Jaden to his core. You see Jaden, during your time as the Supreme King, you made things difficult for me. After all, it was you and Yubel that destroyed four of my followers. In return for that, I think it's only kind of me to repay you back with a move that will not only devastate your life points, but your heart and soul."

"Are you going to yammer on all day or make your move?" Jaden coldly questioned.

Smirking, the robed duelist pulled a card from his hand, saying "This may change your mind about your words. I activate the one card that will crush all that you are: Monster Reborn."

Seemingly confused, the group, along with the young duelist, frowned at the declared card that the robed duelist had said. Seeing this, the robed duelist calmly said "Using this, I can revive any monster in my Graveyard."

"Another of the Wicked Gods is coming back." Illidan coolly stated.

Bursting out into a dark laughter, the robed duelist shook his head, saying "No, as much as I wish one of them could, they can't. You see, all three Wicked Gods have one thing in common, which is none of them can be Special Summoned to my field. All three must have three sacrifices, and once they're in my Graveyard, they're useless, unless I return them to my hand."

"Then what are you bringing back? Nothing in your Graveyard is unstoppable." Yugi declared.

Casting a small smirk at the spike haired duelist, Gozaburo coolly replied "Who said I was going to use my Graveyard? Don't forget, Monster Reborn grants me access to any of our respective Graveyards."

"That means he could bring any of our monster's back and use them against us…" Illidan quietly remarked.

"Don't flatter yourself, Illidan." the robed duelist declared. "I could use a monster from your Graveyard, but you have nothing I want. No, the Graveyard that has what I want belongs to Jaden."

Confused, the young duelist asked "Mine?"

"That's right Jaden." Gozaburo confirmed. "You see, I find it ironic that the card I wish to bring back was once the one that wished to have you for all to itself. After all, she did everything to just have you alone with her."

Eyes widening, Jaden quickly yelled "No, please, don't do it! Don't take her!"

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist smugly replied "It's too late, boy. I use Monster Reborn to bring back your beloved guardian, Yubel (0/0)!"

"NOOO!!!"

Forming onto the field before the robed duelist immediately was the female demo with dark pink skin and black clothing, dark purple and gray hair, and wings on her back. Taking in her surroundings, the female demon's eyes widened in surprise and fear as she realized where she was.

"_What have you done!?_" Yubel hissed.

Sneering at the angered demon, the robed duelist coolly remarked "I simply brought you back to the side you belonged on originally. Don't forget, you pledged to me your loyalty in helping me complete my goals, while I pledged to help you with yours. I have held up my end of the bargain, but I see you're having trouble. That is why I have opted to lend you more aid."

"_I will never serve you!_"

"That's where I disagree with you, Yubel. You are mine to do with as I please. And speaking of which, it's time you felt what true power is. Sacred Seal, grant her your power!"

Unsure of what the robed duelist spoke of, the female demon suddenly felt the eye on her forehead beginning to burn. Without warning, a brilliant green flash appeared in it, making her scream out in agony while holding her head in her hands.

"_STOP IT! IT HURTS!_"

"YUBEL!" Jaden cried out with concern. Racing towards the demoness, he threw a heated glare at the robed duelist, screaming "LEAVE HER ALONE YOU SICK FREAK!"

Pointing at the demoness, the robed duelist watched a black barrier form around the female demon. Reaching it, the young duelist slammed a fist into the barrier, only to be repulsed. Not satisfied, he slammed his fist into the barrier repeatedly, but each time, the barrier only held and repulsed his attack.

"RELEASE HER!" Jaden furiously yelled while turning an open palm towards the robed duelist. A black swirling sphere of energy instantly formed within his palm.

Ignoring the threat, Gozaburo blandly replied "She is no longer your guardian, boy. Yubel is now back where she belongs, which is as my servant."

Glancing at the wailing demoness, the young duelist noted that tears were streaming down from her eyes while she fell to one knee, still clutching her head tightly. Returning his attention to the robed duelist, he growled out "Let her go, now, or so help me, I will erase you from this world!"

"You're filled to the brim with anger, aren't you boy?" the robed duelist questioned in a taunting tone. "Good, let it consume you. The angrier you are the more powerful your Duel Energy shall be."

"_JADEN!_"

Watching the young duelist shift his attention from himself to the demoness, the robed duelist took advantage of this and raced forward. Without a second thought, he slammed a powerful kick into the chest of the young man, sending him flying across the field and slamming him into the circular barrier of the dueling field.

Hitting the barrier, the young man cried out in pain. The barrier soon enough threw him off of itself, sending him face first to the ground. Weakly looking up at the wailing demoness, he slowly rose to his hands and knees.

"Yubel…"

"Jaden, stay still." Marie commanded as she arrived at his side. "Are you hurt?"

In a mere whisper, the young duelist softly said "Help her, Marie… We can't let him take her…"

Glancing over at the screeching demoness, the female duelist released a heavy sigh and quietly replied "It's too late for her, Jaden. Once Gozaburo took control of her, there was nothing we could do to stop him from doing that to her."

"There has…"

"Jaden, she's gone. There is nothing we can do for her."

Looking up to see that the cold voice that had made the statement belonged to Illidan, the young duelist rose to his feet and turned a fierce glare to the brown haired duelist.

"It's easy to say that Illidan, but I know we can save her!"

Not looking away from the dueling field still, Illidan calmly remarked "Jaden, there is nothing we can do for her at the moment. Gozaburo will have complete control of her, no matter what. For now, we must bide our time until we can save her."

Realizing what the brown haired duelist meant, Jaden calmed himself and took up a stance in the place he had once been in. Staring at the still screaming demoness, he couldn't help but feel his heart breaking while watching her sitting there in pain.

All at once, the demoness's screams suddenly subsided. Slowly rising back up to her feet with her eyes closed, the female demon gradually raised her head. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing a red glow in the two, while her third eye now had the green circle inscribed into it. The tears that had been in her eyes were drying quickly.

"It looks like she has chosen to become mine, Jaden." Gozaburo smugly commented. "What a shame, the bond between the two of you wasn't a match for The Seal's power. And now that she is finally mine, she gains more power (0 + 500 = 500/0)."

Growling, but not answering his opponent, the young duelist shot a glare at the robed duelist. Slowly, he turned his eyes to the demoness, only to see nothing but anger and hatred in her now red tinted eyes.

"_Yubel, are you still in there? Please, if you are, hold on. I swear to you, no matter what it takes, I'll find a way to save you._"

"It's time I finished one of you, and who better than you, Jaden. You have been a thorn in my side since the beginning of this duel. I think it's only ironic on how you will lose, for it will be your sweet Yubel that will bring down."

Hearing the words of the robed duelist, the demoness cast a sideways glance at him. Her eyes slowly began to lose their red tint, only to have the green circle in her eye on her forehead increase in it's brightness, forcing her eyes to glaze back over in red.

Pointing at the large white and dark brown creature before the young duelist, Gozaburo coolly said "Wicked Avatar, eliminate Jaden's pathetic Neos Wiseman with Crushing Darkness!"

Glowing with a brilliant dark black glow, the large black sphere pulled all of it's dark black glow into a central point. In a single, large shot, it released a massive black stream of energy at the white and dark brown creature. The blast smashed into the warrior, who let out a massive howl of pain before shattering. Not stopping there, the blast continued on and slammed into the young duelist, making him scream out in pain. The blast soon subsided, revealing a weakly standing young duelist.

"Jaden…" Alexis whispered while tears spilt down her cheeks. "Please, hang on."

Trembling, Jaden straightened his body upright and ground out "Is that it? Is that your best!?"

"Foolish child, I have saved the best for last." Gozaburo gloated. "Since I destroyed your pathetic little Neos Wiseman, Wicked Avatar's points now change. The strongest monster out right now is Illidan's Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600 + 600 = 2200/1100). And now, I think it's only fair that Yubel sends you into oblivion forever. Wouldn't you agree, my servant?"

Seemingly trembling and attempting to resist the command, the demoness slowly nodded her head. Smirking at this, the robed duelist pointed at the young man and smoothly said "Farewell, Jaden. Yubel, direct attack him!"

Eyes widening upon hearing the command, the female demon lifted off of the ground for a moment. In a faint whisper, she quietly said "_No… No… No…_"

Watching the demoness preparing to attack, the young duelist hid his eyes below the shadows of his bangs for a moment before raising them up to look at her. Sadly smiling, he softly said "It's alright Yubel. I don't blame you for this mess."

"_Ja…den…_" the demoness whispered as tears slowly began to spring from her eyes and trail down her cheeks.

Rising up out of the ground and encircling the dark pink skinned demon in a sphere shape immediately was a thorn covered vine. Without warning, the top of the vine went racing towards the young duelist, who opened his arms and sadly smiled up at the demoness.

With just a few feet before the vine would hit the young duelist, Yubel screamed out "_NO!!!!_"

Instantly, the vine struck Jaden in the chest, just at the spot where his heart lied. The vine sank in a few inches before withdrawing. With it pulling out, the vine allowed the wound to spurt out a small amount of blood while the young duelist coughed lightly, causing blood to spatter onto the ground.

"Game over, boy." Gozaburo coldly stated.

Without warning, the young duelist's body began glowing with a dark orange aura. The aura soon faded, allowing the green circle on the field to suddenly have a second circle appear. The second circle immediately encircled the young duelist and began glowing with a bright green glow. After a moment, the light faded, revealing the barely standing young duelist. Suddenly, the young man fell forward and slammed face first onto the ground.

The group of duelists immediately mobilized and encircled the young duelist. Outside of the barrier, Alexis fell to her knees as tears sprang from her eyes. "Jaden, no…"

Looking up and confirming the young duelist was gone, the blonde haired young woman sobbed out "JADEN!"

Watching his friend crying, Zane moved to before the young woman and fell to his own knees. Gently, he pulled her into his chest, allowing her to continue sobbing while he embraced her tightly. Tears even began to spring from his own eyes upon realization of his long time rival was now gone forever.

Behind the pair, Syrus and Jesse each had tears streaming down their faces. In a muffled sob, Syrus whispered "Jaden, no, please, get up."

"Jaden…" Jesse said in a faint whisper.

Checking on their young fallen comrade, the group of duelists waited for the female duelist to confirm the status of their young friend. Standing back up, the female duelist shook her head slightly while tears began streaking down her face silently.

"He's gone, just like Seto." Marie confirmed.

Both the brown haired duelist and the spike haired one clenched their right hands into tight fists while casting glares on the robed duelist. Feeling his anger boiling over, the brown haired duelist began to inch towards the robed duelist, only to suddenly feel a hand on his left shoulder, effectively stopping him.

"Don't Illidan. You know as well as I do that fighting him head to head won't work." Yugi gritted out.

Still clenching his hand tightly, the brown haired duelist ground out "I know…"

"Fools, none of you will survive this battle. In the end, the three of you shall fall before me, just like your other two friends." Gozaburo bragged. Turning his attention to the brown haired duelist, he added "Illidan, I can sense the anger within you. Why don't you release that same anger and hatred you once did that plunged you into the darkness? That power would give you a fighting chance, possibly."

Glancing at her husband for a moment, the female duelist calmly spoke up, saying "Illidan, don't do it. Plunging yourself back into the darkness will accomplish nothing."

Remaining quiet for a moment, Illidan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Reopening them, he calmly said "Don't worry Marie, I'm not about to be goaded into what he wants me to do. I don't need the darkness to defeat him."

"In the end, you'll wish you had given in." Gozaburo commented with a smirk.

Moving back into their original spots, the group cast a fierce glare upon their opponent, with Illidan harshly saying "You will pay for what you've done here today, Gozaburo. Nothing you say or do will stop your fate."

"Don't make me laugh." the robed duelist scoffed. "Fate is feeble and weak, not to mention can be easily changed. No, the only thing fate has in stored for me is to rule all dimensions. Yes, I will conquer everything with the power of The Seal of Orichalcos and The Great Leviathan!"

"Not going to happen!" Marie declared. "We're going to stop you here and free all those that fell at your hands, and you will return our daughter to us!"

Shrugging at the response of the female duelist, the robed figure selected a card left in his hand, saying "Think what you want, but I don't think you can stop me. I place one card face down and move to my End Phase. Now that I have entered it, I must make a sacrifice to Yubel to keep her around. I think one of my Drawing Tokens shall do. At that, I end my turn." (Jaden = 0, Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)


	58. Chapter 56: Fight for the Future, Pt 8

**Hello once more everyone. Well, last week was fun. My mate, stepbrother, and myself went to the theater last Saturday to watch the new Star Trek movie. I really didn't want to go. Just looking at the previews made it seem like it was going to be just a movie I didn't want to see. Like I thought it would ruin the whole concept of Star Trek for that time period it's set in, much like how Enterprise did. Still, I went for my mate (the things I do sometimes, lol). After seeing the movie, I came to like it. They really didn't tarnish the name of the series with this movie, so I was satisfied, plus I did enjoy it. Lol, on the other hand, my mate said it was the best and the worst movie of the series. How it can be both, I don't know, lol, but she said it was. She's a huge Trekky fan, while I'm a semi-fan. She just got hung up on how things turned out and how they messed up the certain parts of the series at that time period, like there was no Romulans back then and a few other things. But oh well, it was fun. Sunday, we went and saw my mate's family, which was fun for the most part, though I slept part of it, lol. The rest of this week was fun. I saw my grandparents yesterday and helped my grandmother out some. Lol, my grandfather and I spent a little time together, though he brought up the subject of an outhouse. How that came about, I'm not sure. Anyways, he's doing well as usual. He's being a bit picky on what he eats anymore, plus he was a bit grouchy when I helped him scoot up in bed. Not sure what was up with the later, but oh well. Other than that, life is just peachy.**

**Writing wise, I didn't get much done this week. I've been swamped with a new project at work, which is really slowing down the writing process. Then when I'm home, I don't feel like writing, and if I do, I get a few paragraphs wrote and I'm done, lol. But I did write it out in my head, so I know that much. That's not helpful to you all, but it is to me. Usually by now, I have that done, but not this time for some reason. I guess due that I have 2-5 stories floating around in my mind at this moment. Lol, 2 for Inuyasha, this story, and a set of possible Bleach and Naruto fics. So many ideas, just not enough of me to do them all, hehe.**

**Moving alone, it's once more time. That's right, review time!**

**The Rainwalker: Hey once more. Yeah, there was some flooding in WV, but it was to the southern part of the state, mostly where my step mom's family lives. No worries though, they live on a hill, so they were fine. Most of my family lives in the central to northern part of the state, so we're alright. Honestly, where I live, there was really no damage. Lots of water, but no damage. Cool about the Writer's Digest. Good for you that you're getting something done, lol. Yep, Jaden is now gone, leaving the others to fend for themselves. Yeah, I thought Gozaburo using Yubel to take Jaden down was kind of a sad way for the pair to part ways. After all, Gozaburo couldn't just let Jaden go without mentally harming him. True, the chapters have been growing more and more dark, and to be honest, things will only get worse in the end, probably, hehe. Yeah, that would suck to be in the dark when you're legally blind. Just normally being in the dark semi-sucks. I have reasonable night vision, but not the best. Yeah, unfortunately, just getting chapters done is semi hard at times. I've always liked to be consistent, but at times, it's hard, much like recently. I'm trying still though, so we'll see how that goes. Lol, yeah, Blackberries are interesting. Good thing I don't have one, lol. I do like my iPod touch though, although the keyboard is so small and my fingers are too fat, lol. Heh, don't worry about feeling Neanderthal at times. I kind of do myself. Oh yeah, that reminds me, can you send me an email or give me your email address so I can send you the info on where I get the card research? I forgot last time that you do anonymous reviews, so I couldn't do it. I'd appreciate it. Thanks for the review!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yeppers, lol. Jaden is gone, hehe. Actually, I don't think he had any life points left. I had to recalculate it several times to make sure because on the first pass through, I was off like by 150 points. The second time through, he had less than 0, so I took that one. I had forgotten the Battle Damage, lol. Anyways, I'm fairly certain I got it right, but I can run the numbers again I suppose. Yeah, I wanted to add some serious drama/sadness for having Yubel finish Jaden off in that battle. That one would top it all I'd have to say, hehe. Yes, the Wicked Gods are using their real effects from the game, not any show, though I've yet to find them in a show. Really, I hadn't heard of them till ardee brought them to my attention. So true about the Critius thing. His effect, which is to remove a trap from play from a Graveyard wouldn't have helped Seto really. There had been no traps that he could have used to save himself. So true about Yubel and Avatar. Both are almost indestructible. Avatar is always the strongest monster on the field, then Yubel just bounces anything fired at her back. So hard to compete with that. Don't worry about Yubel's other forms. Gozaburo officially doesn't have them. I thought about giving them to him, but that would be like pointless, especially if he didn't have Yubel herself to start with. I'm working on the updating thing, but unfortunately, it's slow when you don't write much, lol. I'll try though. True, the chapters have been too short. Originally, I wanted to release 10k word chapters, but ardee and I talked it over and decided to keep it at the 4-5k word mark. Still, much longer and I may change it up to 10k. We'll see. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, both of you, for your reviews. They were really appreciated. And to anyone who wishes to review, but don't want to due that you're afraid of my reaction, don't worry about it. I find just reviewing and saying what you really feel always helps the writer, be it good or bad. I appreciate both good and bad criticism, so do feel free to send it.**

**Anyways, I'm out for the long weekend. Maybe I'll get something done. Doubtful since tomorrow I'm going to see Terminator Salvation, and tonight I'm off to see a coworker's play. Oh well, time will tell. Enjoy!**

**Duel Stats**

**Life Points:**

**Marie: 6800**

**Yugi: 7000**

**Illidan: 3000**

**Gozaburo: 13100**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Marie: Nurse Reficule the Fallen One (1400/600) (d), Watapon (200/300) (d)**

**Yugi: Queen's Knight (1500/1600) (d), Watapon (200/300) (d)**

**Illidan: Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)**

**Gozaburo: Drawing Tokens (100 + 500 = 600/100) x 2 (2 on the back row), The Wicked Avatar (1600 + 100 + 500 = 2200/1000 + 100 = 1100), Yubel (0 + 500 = 500/0)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Marie: None**

**Yugi: None**

**Illidan: FD**

**Gozaburo: Power Struggle (s), FD**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Marie: 5**

**Yugi: 5**

**Illidan: 6**

**Gozaburo: 2**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 2**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 4**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Marie: 0**

**Yugi: 0**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Turns since Gozaburo activated Card of Demise: 1**

**Chapter 56**

Picking up a new card, Marie eyed it warily for a moment before slapping it horizontally onto her Duel Disk. "I summon Nova Summoner (1400/800) in defense mode."

Appearing in a rainbow aura was a strange ring like orange and striped monster with bug like wings and a small green core. The creature lightly glowed with it's rainbow aura while crossing it's wings before it's body into a defensive position while a horizontal card image formed underneath of it's body.

"That's all for now." (Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)

Drawing a card, Yugi glanced at it before placing it into his left hand. Selecting a different card, he slapped it onto his Duel Disk horizontally, saying "I play Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1400/1200) in defense mode."

Forming onto the field quickly was an elf warrior wearing brown long sleeved shirt, tan pants, a purple cape, and green and silver armor with a green helmet. In his right hand was a long broad sword that he used to defend himself while in the kneeling stance.

"Is that it?" Gozaburo taunted.

Growling lightly, the spike haired duelist grunted out "I'm done." (Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)

Snapping off a new card, Illidan eyed it hard for a moment, pondering over what he held. "_If only I had another monster on the field… Oh well, I guess it's on to plan B, whatever that is._"

"I think I'll set this monster on the field and switch Breaker into defense mode. That's all I have for now." (Marie = 6800, Yugi = 7000, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)

Sneering at the group of three, the robed duelist drew his new card and eyed it with a gleam of evil in his eye. "You fools will regret ever challenging me soon. I begin by revealing my trap card, Zero Sprite. When played, this card becomes an equip card for a monster and lowers that monster's attack points to zero. I equip it to Yubel (0/0) and now, I think it's time to show you fools the type of pain you're in for. Yubel, let's have some fun with Yugi's Queen's Knight."

Flinching at the sound of her name being called, the demoness slowly looked up at the pink armored knight. Her cheeks were still wet from her tears while her eyes appeared glassy also. Struggling to keep from responding to her commands, the demoness lost the fight as all three of her eyes glowed with a dark orange color. Trembling, the pink armored knight slowly rose to her feet while gripping her sword and shield tightly while her own eyes glowed with a dark orange color. Without warning, the female knight charged across the field and slashed out at the demoness, only to have a barrier of thorns on a vine take the hit instead. Striking the barrier, the knight watched in shock as the end of the vine raced across the field and encircled her master. Screaming out in pain as small cuts appeared on his body from the swirling thorn covered vine, the spike haired duelist let out a low growl of frustration as the pink armored knight returned before him.

"I'm far from through with you, Yugi." Gozaburo smartly remarked. "Yubel, attack that knight again!"

Once again, the demoness's eyes began glowing with a dark orange color, forcing the female knight to her feet. Rushing across the field, the knight slashed out at the female demon like before, only to once again have her attack stopped by a barrier of thorn covered vines. Moving past the pink armored knight, the end of the vine encircled the spike haired duelist once more and cut him up like before. Crying out from the damage inflicted, the spike haired duelist trembled as the vines retreated, leaving him weakly standing while his knight returned to her protective position before him.

"That was fun, wasn't it Yugi? But don't worry, I won't harm you anymore. No, Marie, you are my next target! Blast her pathetic Reficule with Crushing Darkness my Wicked Avatar!"

Glowing with a dark black aura, the black sphere suddenly began forcing the aura to concentrate on a central point. Suddenly, the central point released a stream of dark black energy that slammed heavily into the bandaged creature before the female duelist. The blast easily smashed through the weaker creature and continued on and struck the female duelist with great force, making her cry out in pain. Slowly, the blast subsided, revealing a weakened form of the female duelist. After a moment, she fell to one knee, panting heavily while sweat streaked down the sides of her face.

Darkly chuckling at the state of the two attacked duelists, Gozaburo smugly said "It looks like neither of you two will last much longer. Soon both of you shall fall, leaving only Illidan and myself to face off. Once that is the case, the two of us shall settle things at long last."

"If you want to fight me Gozaburo, come fight me! Quit using my friends to get to me!" Illidan snarled.

Ignoring the comment, the robed duelist selected a card in his hand and placed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I think I'll place this card face down and end my turn. Since it's the end of my turn, I sacrifice another of my tokens to Yubel. Now go, if you can." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 13100)

Drawing her new card, Marie cracked a smile and smartly said "You're going to pay for what you've done to the others, Gozaburo. I sacrifice both Watapon and Nova Summoner in order to play Splendid Venus (2800/2400)!"

Vanishing from the field in a glow of golden light, the small pink powder puff and the rainbow ring creatures disappeared as a new golden glowing figure appeared. The figure was a powerful four white winged female angel with glowing golden skin showing from her face and hands. She wore a set of golden robes that covered her entire body, that had jewels around her sleeves, shoulders, and chest area. On her shoulders sat a set of matching golden armor that fell to just below her chest. In her left hand, she held a long golden staff that had a large circular like shape at the top and a single red jewel in the center of the staff. Her head was covered by a helmet with two white wings that fluttered out to the side, with three points that formed a top her head.

"Why thank you for summoning a strong monster, Marie." Gozaburo smartly commented. "It's strength now feeds Avatar's (2800 + 600 = 3400/2500)."

Smirking, Marie replied "Not quite. You see, while on the field, Splendid Venus lowers the attack and defense points of all Non-Fairy Type monsters by 500 points. That means all the monsters on the field but Yugi's Watapon and my Venus lose 500 points (3400 – 500 = 2900/2500 – 500 = 2000) (1500 – 500 = 1000/1600 – 500 = 1100) (1400 – 500 = 900/1200 – 500 = 700) (1600 – 500 = 1100/1000 – 500 = 500)!"

One by one, the four monsters on the field began glowing with a dark red aura while their strength seemed to flee from them.

"That accomplished nothing, you fool." Gozaburo quipped. "You just gave me a large target to attack on my next turn with Yubel and Avatar."

Not seemingly affected by the robed duelist's words, the female duelist calmly replied "Alone, my monster doesn't have the strength to take on your monsters. But that'll change once I activate this equip spell called…"

"You cannot activate any spell or trap cards until the end of your turn due to Avatar, or did you forget?" the robed duelist declared.

"Oh, I didn't forget, but there is something you should know about Venus. While she's on the field, the activation and effect of my spell and trap cards cannot be negated. Obviously, Avatar is negating the activation of all of our spell and traps, so Venus just gave me some help in bringing them back a turn earlier. Now then, I activate the equip spell called Rainbow Veil, and equip it to Splendid Venus."

Without warning, a glowing rainbow colored aura began forming around the golden skinned angel. Seemingly embracing the aura, she turned her gaze towards the robed duelist with a grim look on her face.

Pointing at the female demon before the robed duelist, Marie called out "Venus, attack Yubel with Shining Staff Strike! I'm sorry to do this to you Yubel, but we must win to save Jaden!"

Watching the golden skinned fairy with the rainbow aura surrounding itself prepare to attack the female demon, Gozaburo asked "Why are you attacking Yubel? You'll only harm yourself if you do so, or have you forgotten?"

"Not at all, but you seem to have forgotten what I have equipped to Venus. You see, the effect of Rainbow Veil negates the special abilities of an opponent's monster during the Battle Phase. That means Yubel is an easy target to deal you some Battle Damage!"

Gasping in shock, the robed duelist could say nothing while the golden skinned fairy raced towards the demoness. With only ten feet between the two, the demoness called up her usual barrier of thorn covered vines to protect herself. Striking the vines, the angel cut through them and pushed onwards towards the surprised female demon. Reaching her, the angel slammed the butt end of her staff into her chest, making the demoness cry out in pain and grip the place where the staff had hit. Moving past the female demon, the angel continued onwards and struck the robed duelist hard with her staff in a horizontal swing, causing him to scream out in pain from the strike.

Watching the robed duelist growl lowly while clutching his chest, the female duelist slid a card into one of her empty Spell/Trap Slots, saying "I place this face down and end. I think you've had enough, for now." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 10300)

Drawing a new card and eyeing it for a moment, the spike haired duelist slapped the card onto his Duel Disk while picking the other two up and depositing them into his Graveyard Slot. With a small smirk, Yugi boldly said "I sacrifice both my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian and Queen's Knight in order to summon this mighty creature! Rise up now, Timeaus, the Legendary Knight (2800 – 500 = 2300/2800 – 500 = 2300)!"

Both the elf warrior and the pink armored warrior vanished in a flash of light, only to be replaced by a single warrior dressed in green armor with a sword in it's sheath on his backside, a long flowing black cape, and a helmet on his head. Tufts of blonde bangs poked out from under his helmet, while a visibly slash scar covered his right eye, which he kept closed. His other violet colored eye was open and seemed focused on the robed duelist across the field.

"So, you've decided to make an appearance as well, eh Timeaus?" Gozaburo questioned.

Remaining quiet for a moment, the green armored knight calmly spoke up, saying "_You will pay for your crimes, Gozaburo Kaiba. Reviving The Seal of Orichalcos was a foolish mistake. Like Dartz, you have allowed the darkness of it to take control of your soul. You're nothing more than it's puppet._"

Letting out a loud, maniacal laugh, the robed duelist pointed an accusing finger at the knight and replied "Just like Critius, you assume too much. The Seal doesn't control me, for I control it. Very soon, I shall use all of it's power to resurrect The Great Leviathan, and once I do that, nothing in this dimension, or any other for that matter, can stop me!"

"_I will stop you. I cannot allow you to spill anymore innocent blood._"

In a cool tone, the robed duelist replied "You will try, but fail, just like Critius."

"We'll see." Yugi remarked. "In the meantime, I end my turn." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 10300)

Picking up a new card, Illidan smirked and smartly said "Looks like today just isn't your day, Gozaburo. I first flip my face down monster, which is Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive (1400 – 500 = 900/1000 – 500 = 500)."

Appearing onto the field in a cloud of dark black coal smoke that was pouring out from it's chimney was a black steam engine with an evil, but strange, looking face painted on the front that had fangs poking out of it's mouth and evil looking eyes.

"As you might remember, when flipped up, Dekoichi allows me to draw one new card."

Snapping off a new card, the brown haired duelist placed the card into his left hand while selecting a different one from it. "Now I sacrifice both of them so I can summon a creature that none of you have ever seen before, and will shake your belief in how monsters are used! Go Light and Darkness Dragon (2800/2400)!"

In a flash, both the black locomotive and the maroon robed mage vanished from the field. A moment passed before a brilliant glow formed. From the glow, a massive roar erupted from it. Gradually, the glow died down, revealing a large dragon that appeared to be half black and half white, with the colors completely separated down the middle of the creature. The right side of it's body was ivory white, with a large white feathery wing sticking out it's back. The left side in contrast was midnight black with a stretched skin wing. Each side had a tail sticking out from the butt of the dragon, a pair of sharp clawed hands and feet, and a muscular set of legs. The head of the dragon had seven spikes that were swept backwards, with half of one being white and the other side black. Once more, the dragon released a mighty roar before landing onto the ground before the brown haired duelist.

Sneering at the new dragon, the robed duelist smugly commented "Your dragon may have some power, but don't forget, Marie's creature will rob it of 500 of it's attack and defense points."

"True, but I have a way around that actually." Illidan remarked. "While on the field, whenever a spell, trap, or monster effect goes off, my dragon automatically drops 500 of it's attack and defense points in order to negate the activation of a card. This effect is not by choice, for my dragon does it without my consent. That means right now, my dragon is about to drop some points to protect itself from Marie's Venus (2800 – 500 = 2300/2400 – 500 = 1900)."

Growling lowly while the golden skinned angel began to send out an aura meant to weaken the black and white dragon, the dragon's strength weakened slightly as it's body was covered in a black and white aura, seemingly keeping the golden angel's red aura from harming it.

Seeing irritation washing over the robed duelist's face, the brown haired duelist smirked and called out "Forgive me Yubel for what I must do, but I must do what I can to save Jaden and the others. Light and Darkness Dragon, attack Yubel with Twilight Burst!"

"Have you lost it, Illidan?" Gozaburo questioned with confusion visibly on his face. "You know attacking Yubel will only damage yourself."

Watching his black and white dragon take to the air, the brown haired duelist was quick to quip back with "We'll find out soon enough, won't we."

Roaring loudly, the black and white dragon drew it's head back while opening it's maw. White and black swirling energy formed immediately as it brought it's head back down and fired a stream of the swirling energies. Watching the incoming attack, the demoness brought her thorn covered vine barrier up instantly to block the blast. Just as the blast hit the vines, the dragon suddenly began glowing with it's own black and white aura. Without warning, the blast passed through the barrier and slammed into the demoness, who released a mighty screech. The remainder of the blast continued on past her and struck the robed duelist, causing himself to scream out in pain.

"WHAT IS THIS!? YOUR DRAGON SHOULDN'T HAVE HARMED ME!"

Chuckling at the irate robed duelist, Illidan coolly replied "Remember, my dragon has a special ability to negate monster effects by dropping 500 attack and defense points (2300 – 500 = 1800/1900 – 500 = 1400). Since Yubel's effect just kicked in when I attacked, my dragon negated it, allowing the blast to continue on and strike you directly."

Selecting two cards from his left hand, the brown haired duelist calmly slid them into two empty Spell/Trap Slots and calmly said "I set these two cards face down and end my move." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 8500)

Angrily drawing his new card, Gozaburo snarled out "I attack your pathetic dragon with Avatar! Blow it away with Crushing Darkness!"

Glowing with a dark black aura, the massive sphere began building up energy on a central point on it's surface. In a flash, the sphere released a stream of dark black energy at the white and black dragon.

"Sorry Gozaburo, but that's not happening." Illidan declared. "I play my face down spell, Untouchable! When activated, I must discard one card from my hand."

"Too bad your own dragon will negate that card, Illidan." Gozaburo smugly remarked. "After all, it's that weakling's effect."

Lightly chuckling, the brown haired duelist shook his head, saying "Actually, you're wrong there, Gozaburo. You see, my spell has a primary effect, which is it can't be negated by spell, trap, or monster effects."

Seething with irritation, the robed duelist fired back "It won't matter!"

"It will, actually. Now I just discard a card and am allowed to activate any spell or trap card on my field that can be used during this Phase, and it can't be negated. I play my second face down, Sakuretsu Armor!"

Forming on the large black and white dragon instantly was a set of dull gray armor with many spikes on it. The black stream of energy slammed into the black and white dragon a moment later, only to dissipate. Standing where the blast was, the black and white dragon took flight and charged towards the large black sphere. Opening it's maw, the dragon fired a stream of swirling black and white energy that bored through the black sphere with ease. Immediately, the large black sphere exploded, sending smoke and debris flying all over the field.

With the debris and smoke clearing, the large white and black dragon landed before the brown haired duelist. The dull gray armor vanished, leaving in it's original form.

Seeing a confused and angered robed duelist, Illidan calmly spoke up, saying "Whenever Sakuretsu Armor is played, the attacking monster is destroyed. So much for your seemingly invincible Wicked Avatar."

Growling loudly, the robed duelist snarled "You will pay for this! I set two cards face down and activate Yubel's effect. I sacrifice my final token to her, allowing her to remain on the field. I end my move!" (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 8500)

Picking up a new card, Marie eyed it for a moment before placing it within her left hand. "It's time to fight again! Splendid Venus, attack Yubel with Shining Staff Strike!"

Leaping into the air, the golden skinned angel began twirling her staff before her body. Bringing it to a stop, she began descending towards the female demon, whose barrier of thorn covered vines rose up. Without warning, the black and white dragon before the brown haired duelist began to lowly growl as it's strength decreased (1800 – 500 = 1300/1400 – 500 = 900).

Noticing what the dragon had done, the angel sliced through the vines and moved forward till she struck the demoness, making female demon cry out in pain. Finished with the demon, the angel moved on towards the robed duelist and struck him in a similar fashion, causing him to scream from the pain inflicted.

"I'll lay three face down cards and summon The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700) in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field instantly was a green skinned angel with green feathered wings, and strange tattoos on it's shoulders and forehead. The angel wore a blue tunic with white pants, golden wrist bands, golden bands on it's forearms, and held a golden book in it's left hand. Stretching it's wings out, the angel took up a kneeling defense with it's right arm protecting it's body.

"I think that'll do it for me." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 5700)

Drawing his new card, the spike haired duelist glanced over to his right at the brown haired duelist, only to receive a nod. Nodding in return, Yugi pointed at the female demon and called out "Timeaus, attack Yubel with Sword of Wisdom!"

"Wait, you know your monster can't attack Yubel!" Gozaburo bellowed.

Ignoring the robed duelist, Yugi called out "Go Timeaus!"

Racing across the field, the green armored warrior took to the air and brought his sword before his body. Watching this, the female demon called forth her thorn covered vines to create a barrier. Slamming his full weight into his sword, the knight struck the thorn covered barrier while releasing a heavy grunt.

Before the brown haired duelist, the black and white dragon let out a low growl as it's body glowed with a faint white and black aura, causing it's strength to reduce itself once more (1300 – 500 = 800/900 – 500 = 400). Immediately, the vines before the green warrior began breaking, allowing the knight to go crashing through them and slash the demoness, making her howl in pain.

Leaping away from the demoness, the green armored knight charged towards the stunned robed duelist and cried out "_This is for Critius!_"

Without hesitation, the knight slashed the robed duelist across the chest, making him scream as a blood sprayed into the air. Retreating back across the field, the knight smirked at the robed duelist as he began healing his wound.

"I see, so that's what is going on. Illidan's pathetic dragon has been running interference for both of you." Gozaburo grumbled.

"Correct, Gozaburo." Illidan commented.

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist countered with "Too bad your dragon used up all of it's attack and defense points nearly. It now doesn't have enough defense points to use it's effect any longer."

"That may be, but with it as is, I can activate this card!" Yugi declared. "Go Monster Reborn, bring back a monster from Seto's Graveyard!"

Sneering at the spike haired duelist, the robed duelist smugly said "There is no monster in his Graveyard that can help you. You're wasting your time."

"Not quite, Gozaburo. You see, there is one monster that can help me in this duel. Now rise up once more, Critius, the Legendary Knight (2800 – 500 = 2300/2800 – 500 = 2300)!"

Instantly materializing onto the field was the familiar red armored knight with his black cape flapping in the wind created from his resurrection.

Drawing his sword, the knight turned his cold eyes towards the robed duelist, saying "_I will avenge Seto by defeating you, Gozaburo Kaiba._"

"We shall see, won't we." the robed duelist remarked.

Selecting a card from his hand, Yugi spoke up, saying "I set one card face down to end my move." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 3400)

Grabbing a new card, Illidan placed the card into his left hand. Taking a glance over at his wife, he saw her nod and smiled. Sobering a bit, he quietly said "I'm sorry Yubel, but I must cause you more pain. Light and Darkness Dragon, attack with Twilight Burst!"

"Wait, attacking Yubel now is pointless!" Gozaburo roared. "Your dragon doesn't have enough points to negate her effect."

"Then we'll just have to see what happens, won't we?" Illidan mocked.

Roaring loudly, the black and white dragon took to the skies once more and drew back it's head as white and black energy began forming in it's open maw. Throwing it's head forward, the dragon launched a beam of swirling black and white energy at the demoness.

Pointing at her face down card on the far left, Marie called out "I play my spell The Reliable Guardian, which grants one monster 700 more defense points for this turn alone, and I'm using it on Illidan's dragon (800/400 + 700 = 1100)!"

Eyes widening when he saw the dragon's strength increase, the robed duelist couldn't help but gasp as the dragon's body began glowing with a white and black aura (800 – 500 = 300/1100 – 500 = 600). The blast coming from the dragon seemed to intensify as it sped towards the demoness. Watching the incoming attack, the demoness called forth her barrier made of thorn covered vines, only to see the beam go straight through and strike her. Gritting her teeth, the demoness stood her ground while the remainder of the blast struck the robed duelist, causing him to cry out in pain.

With his dragon landing, Illidan calmly said "I set a card face down to end my turn (300/0)." (Marie = 5400, Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 3000; Gozaburo = 3100)


	59. Chapter 57: Fight for the Future, Pt 9

**Hey everyone! Well, the last week or so has been hectic at work. The project I'm on has started to take off, at long last, though it feels like it's lagging behind majorly to me, lol. Plus the two guys that are on the team are interesting. One is an old school ASP programmer, who doesn't work on the newer code that we have. The other is a new school type of person, who has brought in a lot of new technology, none of which any of us have really used before. Then there is me, just a guy who knows how to code as of right now, but not much in the new technology. The fun really begins when we started the tasks, with me not being told what to do really, so I've been guessing on my own. Bah, I kind of wish I wasn't on this project, but overall, I am learning. It's just dealing with both teammates that is more interesting, especially since the newer technology guy is pushing all this newer stuff off on me. Meh, that's irritating, especially since I have no clue how to do it and he was the one that did. (/sighs\) Anyways, life wise, things are about normal. My poor mate, she didn't get that job she applied for, which really sucks. Still, she's optimistic in finding something else, which is good. And on top of everything, it's hay season again. Only problem is, we can't start due to the weather, lol. That's a major irritation, especially since my dad will be gone from the 19****th**** to the 30****th****. If we don't get it up before then, the hay will pretty much be dead ripe, so joy. Oh yeah, I went to Terminator: Salvation this past weekend. Man, what a movie! I really enjoyed watching it. It was a movie that anyone should really go see.**

**Writing wise, I hit a major burst of writing this weekend and Monday. I was trying to make up for missing last week, so I did a lot of work Monday and yesterday. This story is looking close to finished. My last estimation was 3-4 chapters after this one, so the end is near, which is sad, but at the same time, a relief. And before anyone asks, no, there will not be a sequel. I know there are many disappointments there, but that's how it is, lol.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Glad you liked the fact it was a more technical chapter. So true, the effects of several monsters is hard to sort out. Some trump others and so on. Yeah, Yubel is taking a beating from the gang, but she's all he has to defend himself, so they have to attack her. True, the gang is a bit guilty for attacking her, but to defeat Gozaburo and save her, they have to harm her. Nah, the story wasn't done, lol. Happy birthday btw. This story will be reaching it's ending in the next 3-4 chapters. Thanks for the review!**

**The Rainwalker: Hey again! So true about Mother Nature not something to laugh at really. Lol, all good about not being registered on the site. I don't mind anonymous reviews actually. I don't think anyone will be sued, so no worries. So true about making communications much easier. Btw, I got your email. The Star Trek movie was pretty good. I saw Terminator: Salvation this past weekend, which I loved. Eh, I'm not really into the whole Angels and Demons movie genre. Really, I didn't even like the Davinchi Code either. Anyways, yep, Gozaburo is about out of life points. Light and Darkness Dragon is an actual card that came out a while back. It's pretty powerful, but also a costly card too. Plus it can't be special summoned, which kind of sucks. Yes, Yubel is in a bad place at the moment. She is open to attacks nonstop it seems. Heh, true, Critius is back, so things should become interesting. True, can't get your hopes up too high with Gozaburo still around. Cool about the blog things. I may check on the thing from Youtube sometime when I get a chance. Lol, nice stampede. (/Glances over shoulder to see a fuming mate.\) Uh, you may want to run, like really, really fast before she gets you. Thanks for the review!**

**Well, that's it for the reviews once more. Thanks to both of you for your continued reviews. I really appreciate it.**

**At any rate, I'm done. Till next time, enjoy!**

**Duel Stats:**

**Life Points:**

**Marie: 5400**

**Yugi: 3800**

**Illidan: 3000**

**Gozaburo: 3100**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Marie: Splendid Venus (2800/2400), The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury (0/1700) (d)**

**Yugi: Watapon (200/300) (d), Timeaus, the Legendary Knight (2800 – 500 = 2300/2800 – 500 = 2300), Critius, the Legendary Knight (2800 – 500 = 2300/2800 – 500 = 2300)**

**Illidan: Light and Darkness Dragon (300/0)**

**Gozaburo: Yubel (0/0)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Marie: Rainbow Veil (s), FD x 3**

**Yugi: FD**

**Illidan: FD**

**Gozaburo: Seal of Orichalcos (fs), Zero Sprite (t), FD x 3**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Marie: 1**

**Yugi: 5**

**Illidan: 3**

**Gozaburo: 0**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Marie: 2**

**Yugi: 3**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Marie: 3**

**Yugi: 1**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 3**

**Turns since Gozaburo activated Card of Demise: 3**

**Chapter 57**

Casting a fierce glare at the three duelists across the field from him, Gozaburo snapped off his top card and glanced at it, only causing a cruel smirk to play upon his lips. Darkly chuckling, he slid the card into one of his empty Spell/Trap Slots, saying "You three shall pay for your insolence in a moment. I play the spell card known simply as Wicked Resurrection! Thanks to this spell, I'm allowed to special summon one randomly chosen Wicked God from my Graveyard each turn, but it remains on the field for only my turn. Plus, it deals no Battle Damage, but my opponent is dealt damage equal to their destroyed monster's attack points."

"Wait, I thought you said your Wicked Gods couldn't be special summoned!?" Yugi protested.

Chuckling darkly once more, the robed duelist coolly replied "That is normally true, but this card allows me to negate that particular effect for all of my Wicked Gods. Now then, let's see which Wicked God shall return to devastate your group."

Glowing to life, the robed duelist's Graveyard Slot shot a beam of white light out. A moment passed before the light dimmed and a card slid out. Picking up the card, Gozaburo began to once more darkly chuckle, which quickly escalated into a full all out maniacal laugh.

"The Wicked God chosen is The Wicked Avatar (?/?)!"

Forming in the sky above the dueling field immediately was a large solid black sphere with a glossy finish. A loud roar poured out from the sphere, seemingly shaking the ground the group stood on.

"Now that my Wicked Avatar is back on the field, it's attack points are to be determined. From what I can tell, Marie has the strongest monster, so Avatar gains 100 points more than her monster (2800 + 100 = 2900/2400 + 100 = 2500)."

Glowing with a dark black aura, a small roar was heard pouring out of the sphere while it's strength increased.

Pointing at the weakened black and white dragon, Gozaburo coldly said "Your dragon caused me a great deal of grief, Illidan, so I think it's only fair to take it out first. Destroy it with Crushing Darkness my mighty Avatar!"

Just as dark black energy began pooling in the center of the sphere, two cards before the female duelist rose up, causing the sphere to rotate towards her.

"Not happening, Gozaburo, because I play my trap, Shift! Not only that, but I chain the spell Tyrant's Rise! With this spell, I sacrifice two monsters on my field, so Splendid Venus and The Agent of Wisdom – Mercury. Now that I'm doing this, I can special summon my Tyrant Dragon (2900/2500) from my deck!"

Both the golden and green skinned angels vanished from the field in a flash of light. Taking their place a moment later was a large dark orange dragon, with massive wings, powerful claws, sharp fangs, a strange skin hood around it's face, and a strong tail. Staring across the field at it's opponents, the dragon released a mighty roar in an attempt to strike fear into their hearts, but seemingly failed.

"Next up, Shift's effect kicks in. It transfers the attack you're making to a monster on my field, and since I only have one monster on my field, that means your Wicked Avatar will have to battle with Tyrant Dragon!"

"Is that so?" Gozaburo mockingly asked. "Have you forgotten my Wicked God's special ability? Since you just summoned your dragon, Avatar gets stronger (2900 + 100 = 3000/2500 + 100 = 2600). Plus, thanks to your Splendid Venus being gone, all monsters regain 500 of their attack and defense points (3000 + 500 = 3500/2600) (2300 + 500 = 2800/2300 + 500 = 2800) (x 2)."

Watching all of the monsters' strength return, Marie coolly commented back "I'm not worried about it. Now, bring it on."

Sneering, the robed duelist called out "Go Avatar, blast Marie for her troubles! Crushing Darkness!"

Without any further delay, the pooled energy on the large black sphere was released in the form of a large black swirling stream and began racing towards the large dark orange dragon. Watching the incoming stream, the dark orange dragon seemed to not even flinch at the oncoming attack.

"Say goodbye to your Wicked Avatar, because I play my trap card, Tyrant's Rage!"

Eyes widening a fraction, Zane mumbled "That's the card she used to beat Zell when he controlled me…"

"She used it against me too when Yubel was controlling me." Jesse added.

"But can she beat Gozaburo with it?" Chazz questioned.

On the field, smirking confidently, Marie called out "To use this trap, I must first sacrifice half of my life points. Now that I've done that, my dragon scans the field for the strongest monster. Once found, that monster's attack points are added to my dragon's points. Since your Wicked Avatar is obviously the strongest, Tyrant Dragon's points increase by 3500 (2900 + 3500 = 6400/2500), giving him 6400 attack points, which is more than enough to finish off your Wicked God!"

Glowing with a brilliant orange aura, the large dark orange dragon roared loudly while it's strength increased greatly. Throwing it's head back and opening it's jaws, the dragon roared loudly once more while flames began to leak out of it's maw and lick it's lips. Flinging it's head back forward, the dragon launched a stream of searing hot flames at the oncoming black stream. The two streams met just past the middle of the field towards the dragon and locked together. A moment passed before the black stream began to fall back as the hot stream of flames pushed it backwards towards it's source. Without warning, the streams suddenly stopped moving and pushed back to the middle while the black stream seemed to increase it's power.

"What's going on!? Tyrant Dragon has the upper hand, yet it seems like your Wicked Avatar is getting stronger." Marie declared with confusion on her face.

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist smugly replied "That's because it is. I told you once that Wicked Avatar is always the strongest monster on the field. That is due to it's effect. It is always at least 100 points stronger than the strongest monster on the field, even if you increase another monster's points. That means Wicked Avatar now has 7000 attack points, thanks to your own trap (6400 + 100 + 500 = 7000/2500 + 100 = 2600)."

Watching in shock, the female duelist couldn't help but suppress a gasp when the black stream of energy began to overtake her dragon's flames. Bowing her head slightly, she whispered "Then I've failed…"

"You have, and now you will vanish forever! Farewell, pathetic woman." Gozaburo smartly remarked.

All at once, the black stream began to race faster towards the dark orange dragon, which could do nothing but try and stop the blast coming at itself. Seeing this, the female duelist raised her head up to defiantly glare at the robed duelist. Just as the stream of black energy was about to strike the dark orange dragon, the brown haired duelist protectively moved before his wife with his back to the blast and spread his arms out to shield her.

"Illidan, what are you…"

Before she could finish, the stream of black energy blew away the dark orange dragon and slammed heavily into the brown haired duelist's back. He let out a heavy grunt while the blast ground against him till finally the stream let up and gave out. With the attack over, the brown haired duelist stood up straight, only to begin to fall forward into his wife, who held him up.

Staring into the face of her husband, Marie whispered "Why, why did you do that?"

"It was all I could do… I failed to protect you, agai…" Illidan quietly began, only to be stopped by his wife placing a single finger on his lips to silence him.

Shaking her head, she replied "It's not your fault that this happened. I was the one that took the chance to try and defeat Gozaburo, and it's my loss. Don't blame yourself for this."

Sadly smiling, she added "Please, don't give into the darkness because of my loss. I know that both Yugi and you can defeat Gozaburo together. If you two can do it, the others, Arya, and I will all return. So please, don't give in to the darkness."

Reaching out and holding onto his wife's hand, the brown haired duelist whispered "I promise, no matter what, I will save you and the others."

Weakly smiling while her body glowed with a dark orange aura, the female duelist cringed as her Duel Energy was drained away. The green circle the group stood on slowly encircled the pair and began to glow brilliantly. In a flash, the female duelist went limp in her husband's arms. Gently, the brown haired duelist laid his wife onto the ground while staring down at her.

"Foolish woman, did she really think she could stop me?" Gozaburo questioned aloud with sarcasm dripping in his voice. "At one time, I would never have done that, but that weakness is no longer a problem. I long ago got rid of my feelings for her."

Turning his eyes to the brown haired duelist who was still staring down at his fallen wife, the robed duelist slyly said "If you would bring out that darkness in your heart once more, you would possibly stand a chance against me. Come Illidan, give up this farce and release the darkness."

Slowly standing up while keeping his eyes hidden in the shadow of his bangs, the brown haired duelist quietly spoke up, saying "You must take me for a fool. To think, you believe I would go back on my word when I made a promise to my wife."

Raising his head, Illidan added "No, I will not break my promise to Marie. Yugi and I will take you down, no matter what!"

"Is that so?" Gozaburo mockingly asked. "Then allow me to show you what happens to those that defy me. Yubel, engage that dragon in battle!"

Eyes glowing dark orange, the female demon rose into the air while the black and white dragon's eyes glowed with a dark orange color. Opening it's maw, the dragon launched a stream of swirling black and white energy at the demoness. Immediately, a vine covered in thorns began encircling the demoness in a protective barrier. The blast slammed into it but was seemingly stopped. All at once, the tip of the vine went racing across the field and struck the brown haired duelist, causing him to grunt out in pain while taking a step back.

"I'm not done with you yet. Due to Zero Sprite, I can attack with Yubel once more. Go, fight with that dragon!"

Instantly, the demoness's eyes glowed to life again with a dark orange color. The white and black dragon immediately launched a stream of swirling black and white energy at the female demon again. Like before, a barrier of vines covered in thorns stopped the blast while the top of the vine struck the brown haired duelist, making him fall to one knee.

"I think that's enough punishment, for now. I move to my End Phase, in which Yubel's effect activates. Luckily for me, or unluckily for you I suppose, my Wicked Avatar was headed for the Graveyard anyways, so I'll sacrifice it to Yubel to keep her alive."

Vanishing from the field in a golden glow, the large black sphere disappeared while the demoness's body glowed with a faint red aura.

"I end my turn at that." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2400; Gozaburo = 3100)

Preparing to draw his new card, the spike haired duelist's fingers touched the top card only to stop. Glancing down at his hand, he held it up before his face, finding that it was trembling.

"_If I don't draw something to help, this will be it. We've already lost three good friends. Can we defeat him? Do I have that kind of strength? Yami was always fearless, but even he wasn't strong enough to beat Gozaburo in the past, so can I do what he couldn't with Illidan's help?_"

"Yugi, we will win."

Hearing the voice of his teammate, Yugi glanced over to see the brown haired duelist standing back up and staring straight ahead with fierce determination in his eyes. Glancing at his friend, Illidan added "No matter what, we will defeat him. Our friends and family are waiting on us to defeat him, so let's not hold out on them."

Digesting the words of his friend, the spike haired duelist nodded his head and slightly smiled. "_He always has been the best at reading me, other than Tea. I can't let the fear of the unknown hold me back. No matter what, I will help Illidan rescue his daughter and our friends and family._"

"Thanks, Illidan." Yugi whispered while snapping off the top card of his deck. Eyeing it for a moment, he calmly said "I set one card face down and end my turn." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2400; Gozaburo = 3100)

"All that talk about taking me on, and you still do nothing." Gozaburo mused. "How pathetic."

"Don't worry about him, Gozaburo. You're about to have your hands full with me!" Illidan declared while drawing his top card. "I activate the spell Mystik Wok, which allows me to sacrifice one monster on my field and then add that monster's attack or defense points to my life points. Since I only have one monster, I choose my Light and Darkness Dragon, meaning I gain 300 life points."

Letting out a soft roar, the large white and black dragon vanished from the field in a burst of golden energy while the brown haired duelist's life points increased slightly.

"I next activate my dragon's special ability. When sent to the Graveyard, all monsters on my field are destroyed. Luckily for me, I have none, so it's next effect kicks in. Now I can special summon any monster from my Graveyard to the field, other than my dragon, so arise Hermos, the Legendary Knight (2800/2800)!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash was a red armored knight with a black cape on his back and a sword in it's sheath on his left hip. His face looked young and his brown eyes were kind, and a bit of sandy blonde hair peaked out from his helmet.

"Wait, how did he get into your Graveyard!? I never destroyed him!" Gozaburo protested.

Nodding in reply, Illidan coolly remarked "That's true, but you forgot, I discarded a few turns ago for the effect of Untouchable. When I did that, I tossed out Hermos."

Eyes widening a fraction, the robed duelist mumbled "You planned it out…"

"That's right Gozaburo!" Illidan declared. "You see, I wanted to summon Hermos, but I knew he'd be a target, so I decided to bide my time and play Light and Darkness Dragon instead. It's a good thing too, because thanks to it, I softened you up for Hermos."

Growling lowly, the robed duelist angrily spat out "It won't matter! None of you three knights can touch me!"

"_That's where you're wrong, Gozaburo Kaiba._" the red armored knight spoke up while moving towards the sides of his brethren. "_While the three of us are out on the field, our effect activates. Now the effects of your Seal of Orichalcos are negated!_"

Drawing their swords at the same time, the three knights stretched them out and clashed them together in a triangular shape. As one, the three struck the ground, causing the green circle that encircled the duel to shatter all at once. At the same time, the green symbol in the female demon's eye on her forehead vanished, causing her to blink several times before she reopened her now focused eyes.

Casting a fierce glare at the robed duelist, the demoness grit out "_You will pay for what you have made me do to Jaden and the others! I swear it, I will make sure you fall!_"

"Another pointless threat." Gozaburo commented in a bored tone. Returning his attention to the three knights, he added "The three of you may have dispersed The Seal of Orichalcos, but once one of you falls on my next turn, it will return and take the soul of one of your so called masters."

"I wouldn't count on it Gozaburo, because I'm activating Hermos's special ability!" Illidan called out. "By removing a spell card from the Graveyard, I can use that card's effect for this turn. The card I'll be removing is in Marie's Graveyard, so I send Rainbow Veil to the removed from play pile."

Glowing to life with a golden color, the Graveyard Slot of the unconscious female duelist slid pushed a card out from itself. The card immediately vanished in a flash.

"Since Rainbow Veil is an equip spell, I equip it to Hermos."

Without warning, a rainbow aura began encircling the red armored knight. The aura soon covered his entire body and his sword.

In a sad tone, the brown haired duelist quietly said "I'm sorry to do this Yubel, but to save Jaden and the others, I must attack you."

"_Do what you must to rid us all of this disgusting fool._" the demoness sharply responded.

Nodding, Illidan pointed at the female demon, saying "Hermos, attack Yubel with Sword of Renewal!"

Rushing headlong across the field at full speed, the knight brought his sword before himself and leapt high into the air. Watching this, the demoness called upon her thorn covered vine barrier to try and stop the incoming attack.

"Don't forget, since Hermos is equipped with Rainbow Veil, Yubel's effect is negated, so cut through that!"

Slashing out at the vine barrier, the knight cut throw the vines cleanly and fell before the demoness. Raising his sword, he slashed her across the chest, making her cry out in pain. Done with the female demon, the red armored knight raced towards the robed duelist. Reaching him, the knight vanished in a flash, only to reappear several feet away. After a moment, the robed duelist screamed out in pain as a pair of slash marks appeared on his chest with blood dripping from the wounds. The robed duelist soon fell to one knee, panting heavily while clutching his injuries.

Selecting a card from his hand, the brown haired duelist calmly said "I set one card face down and I'll turn things over to you, Gozaburo. Better hurry up and get up, or else you'll lose to the two of us." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2700; Gozaburo = 300)

Rising to his feet while his wounds healed, the robed duelist grabbed his top card, only to be interrupted by the brown haired duelist. "Hold that thought Gozaburo, because the effect of your Card of Demise kicks in now. That means toss out that card you just drew."

"I know that!" Gozaburo snarled.

Placing the card he had drawn into his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist called out "I may have lost that card, but the effect of Wicked Resurrection kicks in. A random Wicked God is selected and resurrected onto my field."

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the robed duelist began pulsating with dark black energy that began to leak out onto the field. A moment passed before a card slid out of the robed duelist's slot. Picking it up, he smirked evilly and slapped it onto his Duel Disk. Materializing immediately was the large green and white creature from earlier in the duel with large muscles and a powerful dark red aura.

"Welcome back The Wicked Dreadroot (4000/4000)!" Gozaburo declared. "And now, with his arrival, all monsters, other than himself, have their attack points cut in half (2800 / 2 = 1400/2800 / 2 = 1400) (x3) (200 / 2 = 100/300 / 2 = 150)."

Glowing with a dark red aura, each of the three knights and the weak pink puffball strength faltered, leaving them with only half of their original strength.

"Next, I activate my face down spell, Duel Gate! When played, I must remove this card, along with the same card in my Graveyard, from play. I luckily tossed out my other copy of this card when Card of Demise's effect kicked in. Now I draw two cards."

Picking up two new cards, the robed duelist eyed them for a moment before calling out "It's time I got rid of you, once and for all, Yugi. Dreadroot, crush Timeaus with Dread Fist!"

Letting out a loud roar, the large green and white creature took a step forward while drawing back it's massive right arm. Dark black energy began swirling around the fist before the creature released a might punch at the green armored knight.

"Not so fast, I activate Timeaus's special ability!" Yugi called out. "By removing a monster from the Graveyard, Timeaus can absorb that monster's special ability for this turn."

Sneering, Gozaburo smugly replied "It won't matter! Nothing can stop Dreadroot!"

With just feet between himself and the large fist coming straight at him, the green armored knight brought his sword before his body horizontally and positioned his left hand behind it to steady it. All at once, the fist of the large white and green creature struck the sword of the knight, sending the knight sliding backwards from the brute strength of the powerful white and green creature. A massive amount of dust and debris rose into the air immediately obscuring everyone's vision of the battle.

Gradually, the dust settled, revealing the green armored knight holding his sword horizontally before himself still while struggling to keep from being pushed backwards by the massive green and white monster's fist. The large creature put pressure on the knight, only to find he wouldn't budge.

"Why wasn't your knight destroyed!? Dreadroot had more than enough attack points to crush him!"

Lightly chuckling, Yugi held up a card from his right hand, saying "That's true, but don't forget, I activated Timeaus's special ability and removed a monster from my Graveyard to add it's effect to Timeaus. That monster was this, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, which can't be destroyed in battle by a monster with 1900 or more attack points. Obviously, with 4000 attack points, Dreadroot couldn't destroy Timeaus."

Gnashing his teeth together, the robed duelist snarled out "Do not make light of me or my Wicked Gods! Yubel, engage Timeaus in battle and teach Yugi a lesson about disrespecting my power!"

Throwing a heated glare over her left shoulder at the robed duelist, the demoness let out an indignant grunt before spreading her wings and beginning to take flight. Just as she did, the blue armored knight in front of the spike haired duelist stepped forward with his sword in hand.

"_Yugi, I think it's time I displayed my special ability._"

Nodding, the spike haired duelist called out "I think you're right, Critius. I activate his special ability. Now by removing from play a trap card in the Graveyard, I can activate that card for this turn alone. I remove from play from my Grave the trap Spellbinding Circle, which I now use to ensnare Yubel."

Without warning, a green circle with strange golden symbols pointing in the directions of north, south, east, and west, formed around the demoness. Glancing at the circle, she barely had time to react as it suddenly shrank around her and bound her arms to the sides of her body. Struggling to free herself, the demoness found she couldn't and was forced to land on the ground once more.

"Thanks to Spellbinding Circle, Yubel is unable to attack or switch her mode."

Clenching his right hand tightly, the robed duelist angrily jammed a card into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I set this and sacrifice Dreadroot to Yubel to end my turn." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2700; Gozaburo = 300)

Drawing a new card, Yugi glanced at it for a moment before placing it into his left hand. "It's time I freed Yubel from your grip, Gozaburo. I activate Critius's special ability and remove Ring of Destruction from Seto's Graveyard. With it removed, I can now use it on Yubel and destroy her, freeing her once and for all from you!"

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the fallen duelist in the white trench coat glowed and pushed out the card declared. It vanished in a golden glow, causing a large metal collar with many explosives attached to itself to appear onto the field. Slowly, the collar began to rapidly spin and raced towards the demoness, who smirked at the oncoming object.

"Foolish choice, Yugi." Gozaburo declared. "I activate my face down trap, Dark Bribe. With this, your card is negated, but on the bright side, you get to draw one new card."

Grunting lightly upon seeing the metal collar explode, the spike haired duelist drew a new card and stared at it for a second before placing it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I lay this card onto the field and end my turn." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2700; Gozaburo = 300)

"Which brings us around to my turn!" Illidan announced while drawing his new card. Placing it into his left hand, he calmly said "I play Hermos's special ability, so now I remove from play Pot of Greed in Jaden's Graveyard."

Watching the spell card eject from the young duelist's Graveyard Slot and vanish in a flash of golden light, the brown haired duelist picked up two more cards. Putting them in with his others in his left hand, he added "I'll call it a turn." (Yugi = 3800, Illidan = 2700; Gozaburo = 300)

Sneering at the pair of duelists opposing him, the robed duelist drew his new card and smugly said "What a shame you two couldn't do more than you did. I begin by playing Wicked Resurrection's effect."

Immediately, his Graveyard Slot glowed to life while seemingly selecting a card. After a few moments, a card slid out and into the waiting hand of the robed duelist. Smirking evilly, he slapped the card onto his Duel Disk, saying "Witness the return of The Wicked Avatar (2800 + 100 = 2900/2800 + 100 = 2900)!"

Materializing above the robed duelist in a flash was the large dark black sphere that had a dark aura to it. A primeval roar was heard within the sphere, sending a bit of shockwaves throughout the dueling area.

"Next, I reveal my face down trap, Plea Bargain. To use this card, I must send a spell, trap, and monster card to the Graveyard. The location for this is interesting though. I must send one of those cards from each of the following locations: my deck, hand, and field."

Snapping the top card off his deck, the robed duelist turned it towards the group, saying "Looks like I'll send this monster card from my deck to the Grave."

Placing the card into his Graveyard Slot, the robed duelist then selected a card from his left hand and turned it towards the pair. "From my hand, I send this spell."

Finishing up with placing his card into his Graveyard Slot, he pointed at the trap before him, saying "Finally, I send this, Zero Sprite, to my Grave, meaning Yubel is no longer equipped to it."

Vanishing from the field in a glow, the trap card disappeared, leaving the robed duelist to deposit the card into his Graveyard. Smirking, Gozaburo calmly said "Now that those three cards are gone, Plea Bargain's effect kicks in. For the duration of this turn, neither of you can activate any spell or trap cards, plus your monster effects are negated also."

"Wait, what!?" Illidan exclaimed.

Sneering, the robed duelist countered with "You heard me, Illidan. Now then, Avatar, it's time to blow away Critius. Attack with Crushing Darkness!"

Glowing darkly with a black aura swirling around the center of itself, the large dark sphere launched a stream of pure black energy at the blue armored knight. Staring at the blast, the knight held his head up high.

Glancing over his right shoulder at the red armored knight, the blue armored knight cracked a sad smile, saying "_It looks like it's up to you now. Good luck, Hermos._"

With his words said, the knight was engulfed in the stream of black energy. The blast destroyed the knight immediately, only to continue onwards and strike the spike haired duelist who let out a scream of pain and took a shaky step backwards.

"And now with Critius gone, The Seal of Orichalcos's power returns (2900 + 500 = 3400/2900) (0 + 500 = 500/0)."

On the ground, the large green circle that had been encircling the dueling area earlier suddenly reappeared, giving off a light green glow. Instantly, a similar green circle appeared onto the large black sphere's upper part while one appeared in the eye on the forehead of the female demon, causing her eyes to take up a red tint.

Sneering, the robed duelist pointed at the duelist on one knee, saying "It's over, Yugi. Finish him off now, Yubel!"

Seemingly resisting, the demoness let out a low growl before slowly spreading her wings and taking to the air. Watching this, the spike haired duelist rose back to his feet. With eyes glowing dark orange, the demoness mouthed the words "I'm sorry." Nodding in reply, the spike haired duelist watched the green knight before him begin to tremble while raising his sword before his body. Launching himself into the air, the knight slashed out at the demoness, only to strike her barrier of spike covered vines. The end of the vine immediately responded and slithered across the field and struck the knight's owner, making him cry out in pain once more. Blood instantly spattered to the ground in drops from the wound that the vine made.

Weakly looking over at his teammate, Yugi softly smiled, saying "I guess this was as far as I was supposed to go…"

"Yugi…" Illidan murmured with his eyes starting to grow misty.

"It's alright. This just means you'll have to beat him. Remember, all of us can be saved when you win. Just don't keep us too long."

Nodding mutely, the brown haired duelist watched his friend's body suddenly glow with a dark orange aura, causing his energy to drain from his body. A moment passed once the aura faded, causing a green circle to form on the ground around the duelist and begin glowing brightly. Within a second, the light faded and the spike haired duelist fell to the ground face first.

Darkly chuckling, the robed duelist smugly said "Looks like it's just you and me now. A shame those insects couldn't do more against me."

"Now then, why don't you unleash that power of darkness that you've kept locked away? If you wish to save your friends and family, the only way to possibly stop me is for you to unleash that great dark power. So why no release it and take the only chance you have to stop me?"

Clenching his right hand tightly and hiding his eyes beneath the shadows of his bangs, the brown haired duelist grit his teeth. Watching this, the robed duelist smirked, asking "Are you afraid of the power that is deep within you? That fear is what will cost you your friends and family in the end."

Still not receiving a reply, Gozaburo smirked evilly, saying "I see, so you honestly don't care what happens to them. I must have read you wrong then. It seemed you would do anything for your friends and family to me, but now I see you are nothing more than a coward. The power you hold within yourself may be enough to stop me, but you'll never know till you try to use it."

"Enough!" Illidan snarled out while raising his head, revealing furious dark brown orbs. "I will defeat you with my own power! The darkness within me has great power, but I refuse to use a power that will corrupt me and only aide you in the end! No matter what, I will never break my promise to Marie. I swore I would never give into the darkness again, and I meant those words when I told her them."

Letting out an irritated sigh, the robed duelist countered with "I see, so you will do nothing to stop me. Very well, I shall just crush you under my heel. I had hoped to see that great power of yours once more and absorb it, but since you are going to be foolish and refuse, I have no choice. I sacrifice Avatar to Yubel to keep her around and end my turn." (Yugi = 0, Illidan = 2700; Gozaburo = 300)


	60. Chapter 58: Fight for the Future, Pt 10

**Hey everybody! (/Hears everyone yell back "Hey Doctor Nick!"\) Uh, ok… Anyways, last week was fun. Last weekend, I went out to my dad's Saturday where we had a get-together of his side of the family. After dinner, we played some football, which was exhausting. Somehow the team I was on managed to tie things up before we quit, so go us. Other than that, not much else happened. I saw one aunt I hadn't seen for a while, which was good since she comes in rarely. Last Sunday, I went to my grandparents like always, which was a good time. Nothing really happened there, other than grandpa being a bit cranky with me helping him out. He gets that way for some reason from time to time. Oh yeah, last Friday night, I built a new deck. It's a Destiny Hero deck, which was fun creating. I had never thought much of them, but I've come to realize they're a bit stronger than first glance, if you have all the cards you want. I still have some to get some, once I get a little bit of money that is. Still, for what it is, it's a great deck. I beat my mate a few times, only to help slim down her deck and make it harder to beat now… So frustrating when I pretty much boned myself by doing that, but it happens, hehe. Nothing else is really happening. Work is busy like always, which is about it. Oh yeah, I developed a cough that is really annoying… It kept me up part of Sunday night, then part of Monday night. I was going to go to the doctor today, but I didn't get time. I'll go Monday though, so hopefully it'll work out.**

**Writing wise, this story is only two chapters away from completion I believe. I don't think it'll get past that, but we'll find out soon enough. Other than that, I've been so busy at work and tired at home that I haven't really worked on the ending too much, but I plan to try soon this weekend.**

**Moving along, time for reviews!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Yep, one on one at long last. True, if I had had it done over, I would have posted this entire duel in only 5 chapters. I wanted to originally do that, but didn't in the end. Heh, the fatal weakness to Wicked Resurrection, eh? Never know, it may not have any weaknesses. But who am I to say, lol. Thanks for the review!**

**Genma no Ou: Yeppers, it's down to one on one at long last. So true about being kind of dark that Jaden was killed by his soul-mate. I think you're right about Dual Gate, but I just didn't catch it when I wrote the chapter I suppose. Oh well, my bad. Thanks for the review!**

**The Rainwalker: Yeah, work really kept me busy last time, plus this week hasn't been especially productive either… Oh well, it happens when you have lots to do. So true about my mate not getting her job also. She was bummed out about it, but she's trying to stay positive and move on. Cool about someone publishing your story. Yep, the duel is down to one on one at long last. Yes, the duel and the story is coming to an end soon. To answer your question, yes, in my version, Mai and Joey had kids. You hear more about them in **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**, with them actually coming to visit Illidan and Marie during Christmas. But yes, hopefully Illidan and Gozaburo will finally settle things. Cool about a trilogy of novels. Sucky corruption of data! That happens to me at times with files that I create for , which is infuriating. I have to either download them back from , or if it's something I was working on, redo it, which really burns me up. LOL! Nice castle on your head. Heh, figures she'd do something like that, lol. I wouldn't mess with her. She's not a very nice kitty when she's mad. So true, don't make her mad. Lol, good luck with the stitching up. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I really do appreciate it. I know, I say that always, but it's true. Anyways, I need to run now, so I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Later!**

**Duel Stats:**

**Life Points:**

**Illidan: 2700**

**Gozaburo: 300**

**Monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: Hermos, the Legendary Knight (2800/2800)**

**Gozaburo: Yubel (0/0)**

**Spell/Trap on the field:**

**Illidan: FD x 2**

**Gozaburo: Seal of Orichalcos (fs), FD, Wicked Resurrection (s)**

**Number of cards in hand:**

**Illidan: 5**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of monsters on the field:**

**Illidan: 1**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Number of face down spell/trap:**

**Illidan: 2**

**Gozaburo: 1**

**Chapter 58**

Snapping off his top card, the brown haired duelist glanced at the card before placing it into his left hand. "I activate Hermos's special ability, which allows me to remove from play Mystik Wok from my Graveyard. It now activates, so I sacrifice Hermos in order to add his attack points to my life points."

"Wait, so you're giving up the only chance you had to win to gain life points!?" the robed duelist questioned with surprise on his face.

Watching the red armored knight vanish in a flash of golden light, Illidan replied "I'm giving up Hermos so I can win this duel. Since he's gone now, I summon Luster Dragon (1900/1600) in defense mode."

Materializing onto the field was a sapphire colored dragon with ruby eyes, sharp clawed hands and feet, a strong tail, and bone like wings. Fully on the field, the dragon furled it's wings and crossed it's arms before it's chest.

"You got rid of Hermos to summon that weakling? If you wished to lose, you should have said so, Illidan."

Paying no heed to the robed duelist, Illidan continued on, saying "I set one card face down and end my turn. Now come and get me, if you dare." (Illidan = 5500, Gozaburo = 300)

"Oh I'll dare to, Illidan." Gozaburo smugly remarked while picking up a new card. "I begin by activating Wicked Resurrection's power. Revive now one of my Wicked Gods!"

Glowing to life, the Graveyard Slot of the robed duelist slowly pushed out a card. Picking up the card, the robed duelist slapped it onto his Duel Disk. Immediately forming in the air, the large bronze creature with sharp clawed hands that looked like a bird of prey, a long sinewy snake like body, and bronze scales appeared onto the field. The creature let out a massive roar that seemed the shake the entire dueling area.

"Great, it's back…" Zane growled.

Staring at the bronze creature, Chazz muttered "How is he going to beat that thing?"

Keeping his eyes trained on the large creature, Jesse replied "If anyone can, it'd be Professor Stormrage."

"He's got to." Zane remarked.

On the field, Illidan stared at the massive bronze creature. Seeing this, the robed duelist let out a dark chuckle and coolly said "Looks like The Wicked Eraser (?/?) has returned. Now that he is on the field, his attack points are determined. For every card you have on the field, Eraser gains 1000 points. Then there is the bonus that The Seal grants him. You have four cards, so that means Eraser gains 4000 points, plus 500 from The Seal (1000 * 4 + 500 = 4500/1000 * 4 = 4000)."

Roaring loudly, the bronze creature's body glowed brightly with a dark orange aura. Upon finishing powering up, the large bronze creature stared down at the sapphire dragon and growled lowly.

"I could attack you and deal you a bit of damage using Yubel and Eraser, but it would be foolish of me to take a chance with you having three face down cards. With that, I activate my first face down trap, Interdimensional Matter Transporter. When this card is activated, I can remove a monster from play until my End Phase. I choose Yubel."

Casting a glare mixed with surprise at the robed duelist, the female demon glowed with a golden aura before vanishing from the field.

"With her gone, I can now play my other trap, Wicked Greed. To use it, I must sacrifice one Wicked God to the Graveyard. For every 1000 attack points that Wicked God had, I draw one card. Since Eraser has 4500 attack points, I'll get four cards. The kicker is that since I'm sacrificing Eraser, it's effect goes off and all the cards on our fields will be destroyed, with exception of The Seal of Orichalcos. Say goodbye to your chances of winning."

"Hold on!" Illidan declared. "I play my trap card, Invincible! To use this trap, I must first sacrifice half my life points. With that, my trap protects one card on my field and keeps it from being destroyed by spell, trap, or monster effects for this turn alone. I'm choosing one of my face down cards. And since I just used up a card that means Eraser gets weaker (3500/3000)."

Growling lightly, the robed duelist ground out "Very well Illidan, do as you like, but I will not be denied. Wicked Greed destroys Eraser, so say goodbye to your cards!"

Roaring loudly, the powerful bronze creature exploded, destroying the single face up card before the robed duelist. The explosion spread across the field and slammed heavily into the sapphire dragon, making it roar out in pain before shattering while one of the face down cards before the brown haired duelist exploded as well, leaving him one card.

"With Eraser gone, Wicked Greed lets me draw three new cards."

Picking up three new cards, Gozaburo eyed them and began to darkly chuckle. "It's over for you, Illidan. I play the spell Corona After-burn. To play, I must give up half my life points, and then I'm allowed to add three cards with the word 'Corona' in them into my hand."

Holding his hand over his Graveyard Slot, he added "The three I choose are Azure Corona – The First Rift, Twilight Corona – The Second Rift, and finally, Abyss Corona – The Third Rift."

One by one, the three spell cards ejected from the slot into the awaiting hand of the robed duelist, who quickly picked them up and held all three in his right hand. One by one, he slid each into his Empty Spell/Trap Slots.

"I now activate all three of my Corona cards, so I play Azure Corona – The First Rift, Twilight Corona – The Second Rift, and Abyss Corona – The Third Rift!"

Appearing onto the field after a moment passed were dark blue stars that formed before the robed duelist. The stars began lighting up onto the field, seemingly absorbing all of the light energy present, while darkening the playing field at the same time.

Next to appear onto the field next to the dark stars was a gash of darkness that turned the entire area gray for moment, but soon became restricted to a smaller space. Covering the gas was a patch of gray cloth that seemed to flutter in the wind.

Last to appear was a crimson colored star that moved beside of the gray cloth and dark star. It seemed to simply blink, signifying some kind of warning.

"The only one of the three Coronas that has an effect that kicks in immediately is Twilight Corona, which grants me 600 life points, while dealing you 600 points of damage."

Instantly, the gray cloth shot upwards as a blast of dark gray energy slammed into the chest of the brown haired duelist, making him cry out in pain while falling to one knee. Growling lowly, he quickly rose back to his feet while clenching his chest with his right hand.

"Now it's time I showed you what I used to defeat that pitiful demoness. I activate the spell card known as Bonds of the Universe. In order to use, I must send all three of my Coronas to the Graveyard."

One by one, the three spell cards shattered, leaving the robed duelist alone on his field. Wind immediately began picking up around him while dark energy seemed to seep out from his Graveyard Slot.

"When played, Bonds of the Universe allows me to special summon a Wicked God from my deck, hand, or Graveyard. Of course, before you say it, this card allows me to negate that monster's special ability that keeps it from being special summoned. Arise once more, The Wicked Dreadroot (4000 + 500 = 4500/4000)!"

Reappearing onto the field with a massive roar in a flash of dark energy was the large white and green creature. Releasing another mighty roar, the creature flexed it's arms while glaring at the brown haired duelist.

"I'm far from done though. Next, I play the spell Wicked Darkness. When I play this card, I must first have at least one Wicked God on my field while the other two are in my Graveyard, plus all three of my Corona cards must be in the Graveyard. Since that is the case, I can now remove from play all three Coronas and then pay half my life points in order to special summon the two Wicked Gods in my Grave. Revive now Wicked Eraser (?/?) and Wicked Avatar (?/?)!"

At once, all three spell cards ejected from the robed duelist's Graveyard Slot, who quickly picked them all and placed them into his removed from play slot. A moment passed before the two monster cards ejected into the awaiting robed duelist's hand. Picking them both up, he placed each onto his Duel Disk and smirked evilly.

Forming onto the field instantly was the large bronzed creature from earlier in the turn, followed next by a massive dark black sphere, each with dark auras pouring off of them. As one, the three massive creature let out roar, shaking the dimension to it's core.

"It's all three…" Jesse mumbled with wide eyes.

Nodding mutely, Chazz quietly added "There is no way he can take on all three."

"Don't count Illidan out yet guys!" Zane countered. "Illidan is much tougher than you think."

"We can only hope…" Syrus commented.

Staring at the three massive creatures, Illidan clenched his right hand and defiantly said "I won't back down from them."

"I didn't think you would, Illidan." Gozaburo smugly remarked. "It's only a matter of time before you are destroyed. In fact, that time is coming soon. First, the attack points of Eraser and Avatar are determined. Due that you only have one card on the field, Eraser gains 1000 points plus the power of The Seal, but that is halved due to Dreadroot (1000 + 500 = 1500 / 2 = 750/1000 / 2 = 500). Then there is Avatar, who gains points equal to Dreadroot, plus 100 and 500 more for The Seal (4500 + 100 + 500 = 5100/4000 + 100 = 4100)."

Instantly, the bronze skinned creature and the large black sphere glowed with dark auras while their strength increased. Each let out a feral growl while staring down at their opponent.

"Why wasn't Avatar weakened by Dreadroot!?" Illidan demanded.

Smirking, the robed duelist coolly replied "The reason is due that the last one of the two summoned out is the one that has it's effect activated. Since Avatar was last, it trumps Dreadroot's effect, meaning it keeps all that power."

"And now, it's time to end this pointless duel. It's a shame you didn't fight me with your full strength. I wanted a challenge in facing off with your darkness, but unfortunately, you refused to give into the darkness, and thus you shall fall here and now. Farewell, fool. Avatar, finish this with Crushing Darkness!"

Eyes wide, Jesse cried out "Illidan, no!"

"No, it can't end like this…" Chazz muttered.

"Come on…" Zane mumbled.

"Don't give up Professor Illidan! We know you can win!" Syrus called out.

Keeping his eyes trained on the large dark sphere before himself, the brown haired duelist watched it begin glowing while the darkness seemed to gather in a central spot. In one earth shattering blast, the sphere released a stream of darkness at it's target.

"Game over, Illidan Stormrage." Gozaburo triumphantly declared just as the blast struck his opponent.

The stream slammed into the brown haired duelist, causing a massive explosion to rock the dimension's foundations. Dust, debris, and smoke filled the dueling area, hiding the spot where the brown haired duelist stood. Slowly, the dust and smoke settled, revealing a still standing brown haired duelist with a triumphant smirk.

"WHAT!? WHY ARE YOU STILL THERE!? THIS DUEL SHOULD BE OVER!"

Lightly chuckling, Illidan coolly replied "Should be, but not because of this card."

Gradually, the smoke cleared, revealing a trap card before the brown haired duelist. "You see, when you attacked, my trap card called Ultimate Defense, was triggered. It activates only when I'm about to lose the duel. By giving up all but 100 of my life points, I can negate all damage I'd receive this turn, plus end the current Battle Phase."

"Why you…" Gozaburo growled out. "That's why you protected that worthless card. You knew that I was going to try and wipe you out this turn."

"That's right. And thanks to me activating that card, your Eraser gets weaker (500 / 2 = 250/0)."

Letting out a low and dangerous growl, the robed duelist began to say something, but stopped himself. Chuckling to himself, he coolly said "Here I thought you were going to go down without a fight. You've made things intriguing. I lay one face down card, and now during my End Phase, Yubel (500 / 2 = 250/0) returns."

Reappearing onto the field, the demoness let out a light growl of irritation while casting a glare at the robed duelist.

"Your move, if you have one." (Illidan = 100, Gozaburo = 375)

Sneering at the brown haired duelist, Gozaburo smugly said "This duel will end with your defeat, and what a shame it is, because you could have had half a chance of winning had you unleashed the darkness within yourself."

"I made a promise, and no matter what, I will keep it." Illidan declared with determination reflecting in his voice. "It's now or never!"

Drawing a new card, he brought it before his eyes and smirked. "I begin with Pot of Greed!"

Picking up two new cards, the brown haired duelist glanced at the new cards. Selecting one, he turned it towards his opponent, saying "Next, I activate my spell, Chaos Revisited! By playing this card, I must pay half my life points. Once I do that, I'm allowed to special summon a monster with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name from my deck, hand, Graveyard, or removed from play pile, to my field. I'll resurrect my Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000/2500)! Meet the beginning of your end, Gozaburo!"

Appearing onto the field in a flash was a green skinned warrior wearing shiny black armor with gold trim that covered his entire body, with exception of his mouth. In his left hand was a powerful black shield with gold trim and in his right was a bronze sword. Fully on the field, the warrior swung his sword to his right side, showing his readiness to fight.

"Don't forget, Illidan, that every monster summoned loses half it's points due to Dreadroot's effect (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250), plus Eraser gains some points (1500 / 2 = 750/1000 / 2 = 500)." Gozaburo informed.

"That may be, but I'm far from done with you! I activate the spell Chaos Fusion, and with it, I'll fuse Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning with the Dark Magician of Chaos (2800/2600) in my hand to form Dark Chaos Soldier – Envoy of Heaven (3400 / 2 = 1700/2900 / 2 = 1450)!"

Materializing slowly onto the field was a blue skinned mage with closed eyes, wearing tight fitting black leather armor that covered all of his body except his face. Long black hair flowed down his back, with a strange mage's hat on his head and a black staff in his right hand. Revealing his eyes, it was seen that he had yellow corneas with red irises.

Both the mage and the warrior nodded to one another and leapt into the air together. The two began to instantly glow with bright aura's, with the mage's being a black one and the warrior a white one. Instantly, the two auras swirled together, seemingly getting rid of the warrior and mage. From the swirl came a new creature, this one that looked similar to the mage without his hat, allowing his long flowing black hair to fall down his back. He wore armor similar to the warrior's, but it was white and gold now, with the gold mostly accenting the joints. At his right side, he held a sharp lance in one hand.

Sneering at the new warrior before the brown haired duelist, the robed duelist smugly remarked "I don't see the point in summoning that weakling, but if you want him out when you lose, so be it."

"I'm far from done!" Illidan declared while pulling a card out of his left hand and showing it to his opponent. "I play De-Fusion, allowing me to split apart my soldier back into the two monsters that formed him, so return now Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250) and Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 / 2 = 1400/2600 / 2 = 1300)."

Glowing with a white aura, the white armored warrior vanished and was replaced by the black armored warrior and blue skinned mage.

Darkly chuckling, Gozaburo smartly said "In doing that, the effect of Eraser kicked in yet again (2500 / 2 = 1250/2000 / 2 = 1000)."

"That may be so, but I'm not finished! When my mage returned, his special ability was activated, allowing me to return one spell card from my Graveyard to my hand, so I return Pot of Greed, which I immediately play!"

Picking up two more cards, the brown haired duelist selected one and placed it onto his Duel Disk, saying "I now remove from play Silent Magician LV4 and Dekoichi the Battlechanted Locomotive in order to special summon Chaos Sorcerer (2300 / 2 = 1150/2000 / 2 = 1000)."

One by one, the two designated monster cards slid out of the brown haired duelist's Graveyard Slot. Picking them up, he placed them into the removed from play slot while the Monster Slot holding the summoned card glowed to life. Materializing onto the field instantly was a creature with purple skin, two large ivory white horns on the side of his head, and yellow eyes. On his chest were a few straps that crisscrossed his body. His shoulders were covered by a set of shoulder pads made up of leather. He had armbands that went from his elbow to his wrists that were black as well, and finally wore a pair of black leather pants and a battle skirt as well. Once fully on the field, the monster let out a small battle cry.

"Summoning yet another weakling, are you?" Gozaburo mockingly questioned. "Summon all that you want, none of them will make a difference in the end! And don't forget, Eraser only grows stronger with each monster you summon (3500 / 2 = 1750/3000 / 2 = 1500)."

Unfazed, Illidan selected another card from his left hand and slapped it onto his Duel Disk, saying "Keep on talking, but we'll see how this ends. Speaking of the end, I remove from play Silent Magician LV8 and Breaker the Magical Warrior in order to special summon your end, Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End (3000 / 2 = 1500/2500 / 2 = 1250)!"

With a mighty roar, a powerful black dragon with large wings, powerful clawed hands, feet, and a tail appeared onto the field. The dragon had an orange mane and let out a mighty roar, seemingly shaking the area of the duel.

"So you summoned the last of your useless Chaos monsters, eh Illidan?" Gozaburo prodded. "I must assume that since you're about to lose, you've brought them all out to bid farewell. Well, while doing so, Eraser grows stronger (4500 / 2 = 2250/4000 / 2 = 2000)."

Not affected by the words of his opponent, the brown haired duelist selected another card from his hand and turned it towards his opponent, saying "I play this spell, Spell Reproduction! By tossing out two spell cards from my hand, I can return one spell from my Graveyard to my hand."

Selecting the two remaining cards in his left hand, he turned them towards the robed duelist, saying "I'll send Chaos Control and Instant Chaos to my Grave, and in return, I can return Chaos Fusion to my hand!"

Placing the two cards into his Graveyard Slot, the brown haired duelist awaited the lone card to slowly push out. Picking it up, he gently placed it into an empty Spell/Trap Slot. "I now activate Chaos Fusion, allowing me fuse together some monsters to create a new Chaos monster."

"So, that's what you had in mind." Gozaburo commented in an amused tone. "Which one will it be this time? Will you use the darker versions of your Chaos monsters, or will you use a weaker fusion? Not that it matters, for any of them will be crushed when facing off with my Wicked Gods."

Seemingly unaffected by the words of the robed duelist, Illidan confidently replied "Normally, you might be right. None of my Chaos creatures could battle your Wicked Gods. Even the more powerful dark forms of my Chaos monsters wouldn't stand a chance."

Pausing for a moment, he smirked, saying "However, I do have one last Chaos monster that will take you down. I've never shown this to anyone before, so keep your eyes glued. Using Chaos Fusion, I'm going to merge all four of my Chaos monsters together to create the ultimate Chaos monster! Go, merge together you four and bring forth the creature that will save our friends and family!"

Nodding one by one, the four creatures on the field took to the air. All at once, the four swirled together, causing a blinding white light to engulf the field, making everyone and all creatures shield their eyes from the intensity of the light. Slowly, the light began to die down, revealing a powerful white shining creature. The light soon faded, revealing the creature was a warrior that looked mostly like the blue skinned mage in the face with blue skin also, but wore black and white full body armor. In the warrior's right hand was a long staff with a lance on the end of it, while the other end had a small half cone shape. The warrior wore no helmet and his midnight colored hair fell to his mid-back in length. His eyes were dark coal colored that held hardness, but kindness also. On the warrior's back was a pair of black wings that were folded up. Finally fully on the field, the warrior let out a light battle cry while keeping his eyes trained on the four creatures across the field.

"This is my ultimate Chaos monster. Meet Chaos Apocalypse Beast – Envoy of Divinity (4000/3500)."

Sneering at the white and black armored warrior, Gozaburo smoothly remarked "What an interesting creature. Too bad it's about to have half it's strength robed from it by Dreadroot."

Glowing with a dark red aura, the large green and white creature snarled while a dark red aura began to form around the black and white warrior. All at once, the aura shattered while the warrior's own white aura flared to life.

"What's going on!?" Gozaburo roared. "Your monster should have lost half it's strength due to Dreadroot's ability, so explain yourself, now!"

Chuckling at the frustration on the robed duelist's face, the brown haired duelist calmly responded with "It's very simple, Gozaburo. First off, whenever summoned, Envoy of Divinity remains on the field for one turn only. Secondly, he negates the effects of all monster cards on the field, other than his own."

"ALL!?" the robed duelist demanded. "Then that means…"

"That means all four of your monsters have lost their special abilities for this turn." Illidan finished. "Since that is the case, Avatar, Eraser, and Yubel's attack points all return to 500 (500/0) (x3)."

One by one, the female demon, the large black sphere, and the bronze creature's strength dropped to minimal levels.

"Next up is Envoy of Divinity's third effect. For every monster in my Graveyard with the word 'Chaos' or 'Envoy' in it's name, Envoy of Divinity gains 1000 attack points, plus for each, he can attack that number of times plus his original single attack. That means he gains 4000 attack points (4000 + 4000 = 8000/3500) and can attack up to five times."

The white aura surrounding the black and white armored warrior instantly intensified like a flame being fed by gasoline. Gradually, the aura began to slowly fade away while the warrior kept his eyes locked on his opponents.

Growling lowly, the robed duelist ground out "I see, so your creature's abilities allow you to damage your opponent hard and fast while keeping their monsters' abilities in check."

"But there is a flaw to your logic. Yes, suppose your opponent has some face down cards or some kind of face up spell or trap to stop you. Then summoning that creature is pointless!"

Slightly smirking, Illidan coolly replied "That is true, normally, but not with Envoy of Divinity. You see, I forgot to mention something earlier when I said it negated all monster effects but his own. His true effect is he negates all spell, trap, and monster effects other than his own while on the field."

Eyes widening, the robed duelist glanced at his face down card and then back up at the brown haired duelist with a look of shock and dismay on his face. "Then my face down…"

"Is not going to save you." Illidan interrupted. "It's over for you, Gozaburo Kaiba. Once I defeat you, there is no coming back. You'll be gone forever, like you should have been the first time. Let this be a lesson, never come back from the grave, or I'll dropkick you back in it."

Chuckling evilly for a moment, the robed duelist began a maniacal laughter before evilly smirking at his opponent. Raising his right hand, he snapped his fingers, causing the ground to begin to tremor. Without warning, a large green glowing stone rose up out of the ground and into the air, sending debris and dust scattering.

"What is that!?" the brown haired demanded with confusion and uncertainty reflecting in his voice.

Sneering at the confusion on the face of his opponent, the robed duelist coolly replied "This is The Orichalcos Stone. It is the stone that contains all the Duel Energy of those that fell to myself or my minions in battle. When Dartz was defeated eleven years ago, the stone was nearly destroyed. By chance, the power to wield the stone fell to Darcia. After I defeated Darcia and took control of The Orichalcos, I took possession of the stone. Over time, once Dartz had given up the power of the stone was passed along, the stability of the stone became a problem. Darcia managed to balance it's power out with his own, and when I took over, I did the same. Now the problem is, once I'm gone, the stone will become unstable again."

"But that's a major problem for you. You see, when Dartz abandoned the Orichalcos, there wasn't much power remaining, meaning if the stone had been destroyed, no major damage would have been incurred. But since Darcia stabilized the stone, it's power began to grow once more. When I took possession, even more power was added back to it. And now, if I am destroyed, the stone will surely self-destruct. With the power it has now, the stone will more than likely destroy this entire dimension with it's massive power."

"No!"

Darkly chuckling at the reaction from the brown haired duelist, Gozaburo pressed on, saying "You have two choices, Illidan. You could finish me off and save your friends and family, but should you, The Orichalcos Stone will without a doubt grow unstable and blow away this dimension. The other choice is you could surrender yourself to The Seal, allowing me to take your energy and you to see your friends and family once more before you begin to fuel the resurrection of The Great Leviathan. Plus, your daughter will live on, only to be raised by me and eventually made to serve me as my personal slave. Choose wisely."

"_What an impossible choice…_" Illidan mumbled within his mind. Looking over at his fallen friends and family's unconscious bodies, he growled "_If I give in, they'll be lost forever, and Arya will be forced to serve him forever. But if I don't surrender and beat Gozaburo, we all possibly die due to the explosion from that stone. Damn it all, he had a backup plan all along._"

Clenching his eyes shut, the brown haired duelist saw images of his fallen friends and family race throughout his mind. Deep within his mind, he suddenly heard a familiar voice, the one of his wife, say "_Don't give up Illidan. You can win, I know it._"

Snapping his eyes open, the brown haired duelist glanced at his black and white armored warrior, who looked back at him and nodded his head slightly. Nodding in reply, Illidan held his arm out, saying "Chaos Apocalypse Beast – Envoy of Divinity, attack all four of his monsters with Divine Chaos Blast!"

"Wait, what!? You're willing to kill yourself and all those close to you!?" Gozaburo roared.

In a firm tone, the brown haired duelist replied "I won't let them die. No matter what, I'll get them out of this place. This is the end for you, Gozaburo. Now finish this Envoy of Divinity!"

Pointing his lance end of his staff at the four monsters across the field from himself, the black and white armored warrior let out a loud cry as a massive stream of white and dark energy swirling together crossed the field and began moving towards the three massive creatures and the female demon. The large swirling stream slammed into the three larger creatures first, making each roar out inhuman cried from the pain of the blast that was hitting each.

Last to be destroyed, the demoness sadly smiled while tears slid down her cheeks. "_Thank you, Illidan Stormrage_" was her final words before being blown away.

The blast continued onwards towards the robed duelist. Upon impact, he let out a loud howl of pain as the stream picked him up off of the ground and slammed him into the barrier of the green circle. A mighty roar of pain ripped through the air as soon as the robed duelist struck the green barrier.

Continuing to be ground against the barrier, the robed duelist screamed and thrashed about while his clothing and body were disintegrating. Glaring down at the brown haired duelist, he snarled out "DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU TO HELL ILLIDAN STORMRAGE! YOU AND YOU FAMILY WILL BURN IN HELL FOR THIS!"

"The only one burning in Hell today will be you." Illidan sharply retorted. "Stay in the grave where you belong."

Roaring out in pain once more, the robed duelist began to respond, only to fail to just as the green circle that had been on the field encircled him and began glowing brightly. In a flash, the robed duelist's body seemed to vanish completely, leaving behind only tattered robes that fell to the ground.

With the robed duelist gone, the floating stone suddenly shot out four beams of green light that struck each of the fallen duelists. On impact, each let out a low moan before quieting once again. Finishing, the stone began to glowing brilliantly with light green energy as streaks of green energy began to flicker out like lightning.

"It's over, and yet only beginning…" Illidan mumbled while turning away from the glowing stone.


	61. Chapter 59: Final Defiant Act

**Hey gang! Sorry I didn't post last week. I was super busy, plus I had a lousy day on Thursday. Work didn't go over so well for one thing, with my computer going on the fritz for some reason. Plus, my dad, step mom, and step brother left out early that morning on a mission trip to Montana. I volunteered to take care of their animals, with exception of one (my step mom's little house dog). So, I left work 2 hours early, mainly due that my mate and I were to go shopping, plus I had to pick up my dad and step mom's car from the church. I made it out and fed the lone dog, then went on the hill to doctor 2 of my dad's horses. He has 5 altogether, but 2 have something called Rain Rot. Pretty much, the hair falls out on a portion of their body and if not treated, will continue to spread. It normally only happens during rainy seasons, and this year it has been rather rainy. Anyways, I went and began working on them. The first horse, Cherokee, she is real easy to work with. Just stands there while I did work on her. Then there is Fancy… She does not like it when anyone touches that Rain Rot. She just backs up and tries to back away. I worked with her and kept trying to make the process go faster, but no luck. It took over an hour to treat her, which was way too long, but oh well. Once I got off the hill, my mate and I left for shopping, only to remember part of the way there I needed to get the car keys for my dad's car… We ate and did our shopping, but not without dinner not agreeing with me for some reason. On the way home, I got sick and had to pull off and let my mate drive us home. Once home, we unloaded the groceries and I felt better, so we went back to my dad's house and got the car keys for his car, then went and picked up the car. I drove it back to his house, where I had left my car earlier, and left. Well, on the way home, a deer jumped out in the road from the side of the hill. I nearly got stopped, but still bumped it in the rear. Part of my lower hood got crushed in, plus the plastic grill got pushed down thanks to the hood, and I have a small dent in the right front quarter panel. When I hit it, I just thought 'great, one more thing for this rotten day.' Needless to say, Thursday sucked, lol. Friday was better, though I've seemingly gotten worriedly sicker due to something from a few weeks ago. I'm off to the doctor later today to find out what's up, because it's gotten to the point when I cough, I can hardly breath. It's a very scary feeling. Other than that, life seems normal enough, I suppose. I've gotten better at treating the horse, but it's still a work in progress.**

**Writing wise, I had a brilliant streak of writing early Sunday morning. By early, I mean 3 AM, lol. I had one of my coughing fits and got up to try and calm down. While up, I wrote up most of the end of the chapter, so go me. This is the next to last chapter, so next time I post, this story will be wrapping up. I've said this before, but let me repeat it once more, there is no sequel. This is the final story to the Illidan and Marie saga. It's kind of sad in a lot of ways, but in a few, it's kind of a relief. Honestly, I never thought the saga would get this far. I never expected the first sequel till halfway through **_**Tournament of Power**_**, and then the sequel to **_**The Wolves Seal **_**just kind of came to me. This final sequel was more complex and mostly ardee's idea, but I'm still happy it turned out like it has.**

**Moving along, review time!**

**Supreme-Chaos-Angel: Glad you liked the last duel. Heh, yeah, Bonds of the Universe is interesting and no one really expected it to summon a Wicked God. Really, I had to ask ardee what it did when I began to use it, and he explained it out to me, hehe. True about Gozaburo could've been truly considered Lucifer judging by his deck. It was more or less a code name we came up with for him and the other members of the Fallen Angels, but in the end, it kind of did really live up to it's hype. The sacrifice of Hermos was more or less to Illidan building up his life points in an attempt to figure out a plan on how to beat Gozaburo. After all, if he had left Hermos out, he'd have been a big target for a Wicked God or Yubel, which would have done far more damage than Luster Dragon. Heh, yep, Gozaburo is most definitely a sore loser since he's attempting to kill everyone within the dimension now. Yes, the final Chaos monster, Chaos Apocalypse Beast – Envoy of Divinity, is nearly unbeatable. It was meant to be a one-turn kill monster, but summoning it would be hard. Alone, you need four monsters, plus none are really searchable to top it off. But yes, it's meant to be a single turn ender, plus it has hardly no weaknesses. It could be stopped by an effect that negates it's summoning or effect, but that's it. Nothing else could really stop it. Of course, you could still play cards from your hand or Grave, but only a handful of cards could do anything about that monster. At that, thanks for your review!**

**The Rainwalker: Yeah, she's getting back on her feet from not getting that job. Heh, I'm not too worried about my job at the moment. Our contract is in the process of being renewed with the Air Force, but it's almost a guaranteed deal, plus even if our company don't get it, my office is covered for sure due that we're here thanks to grant money for WV. So true about never count out an opponent until they have zero life points and the duel is over. That's the great thing about Yugioh TCG, the game is never over if you have the will and life points to keep fighting it out. Yep, it only took one turn for Illidan to turn things around at long last. Yeah, it's not too surprising that Gozaburo would cowardly make one last stand before dying off. Glad you liked how I did things and enjoyed the chapter. Yep, the story is coming to an end. This is the next to last chapter. Next time I post, it's over, at long last. I'll try and stay in touch for sure. Sounds cool about possibly meeting one day. Lol, it's all good about skipping through portions of **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**. It happens, hehe. Oh, a cat person, eh? LOL! Fun fun to find out you're allergic to them. I was allergic to dogs and cats, but my step mom had a small dog when my dad and her got married, so I had to learn to live with the dog. Oddly enough, I built up an immunity to it eventually, but cats still get to me. Thanks once more for your review!**

**Genma no Ou: Yep, the longest duel I've ever written is done. Really, if I had it done over, I'd have posted it in five chapters or less probably, but oh well, it's over with now. Yeah, the Orichalcos Stone appears to be a serious threat. Lol, yeah, let's hope no more Gozaburo, ever, hehe. Thanks for the review!**

**frankcarlo mills: Thank you so much for your comments. Yes, Illidan is OC. The name came from a game called Warcraft 3, but the defined character is all OC. The same for Marie, his wife. Thanks once more for your review!**

**Well, that's it for me this time around. Thank you, all four of you, for your reviews. I hope everyone enjoyed the longest duel ever that never seemed to end, lol. I think it did get a little too long, but my fault on that one for busting it up into 10 chapters. At any rate, this is the next to last chapter for this story, so I hope all of you enjoy it. Till next time, later!**

**Chapter 59**

Hearing the group of five rushing up behind himself, the brown haired duelist turned towards them. With a hint of concern on his normally stony face, Zane asked "Are you alright, Illidan?"

"I'm fine, but we don't have much time. Look after the others."

Receiving nods from each, the five rushed to the other four fallen duelists. Alexis naturally went to Jaden with Chazz in tow, while Zane went to Marie's side, Syrus to Yugi's, and Jesse to Seto's. Seeing the others were being cared for, the brown haired duelist slid his eyes shut and reached out with his senses. Finding a faint signature of the one he was searching for, he opened his eyes and began moving forward.

Getting about thirty feet away from the group, Illidan found a small dark barrier that kept it's contents concealed. Reaching out, he touched the barrier, finding it's energy was fading. Calling up his Shadow Powers, he shot out a small blast of Shadow Magic at the barrier, causing it to flicker for a moment before vanishing. With the barrier gone, the sound of loud wailing erupted, making him slightly smile and cause his eyes to grow misty.

Reaching out, he picked up the young child that had been hidden within the barrier and began to softly coo to her. "There, there Arya, it's alright. Daddy's here."

Holding his daughter out to look her in the face, Illidan smiled as she slowly stopped wailing and looked him in the eye. Kissing her on the forehead, he smiled once more and said "That's my big girl. I'm so sorry for keeping you. Let's go find Mommy."

Moving quickly back to the group, the brown haired duelist found the group of four unconscious duelists were slowly waking up. Reaching his wife, he kneeled down and turned to Zane and asked "Has she woke up yet?"

"She's very groggy. I'm having trouble getting her awake." Zane replied.

"Allow me. Check on the others and try to rouse Yugi and Seto, quickly. We haven't much time before that stone goes boom."

Nodding, the duelist in the black trench coat stood and moved over to the sides of the two specified duelists and began trying to wake them.

Turning his full attention to his wife, the brown haired duelist carefully lowered his daughter a few inches away from his wife's face and softly said "Marie, wake up. There is someone here that wants to see you again."

Noting he was getting hardly any response, Illidan carefully tickled his daughter, causing her to let out a small giggle. In a flash, Marie's snapped open, with a single word coming out of her mouth. "Arya!"

Seeing her mother awake, the baby immediately reached out for her. Quickly moving into a sitting position, Marie took hold of her daughter and held her against her chest.

"Arya, you're alright. Thank goodness."

Slowly, the smile on the brown haired duelist's face faded. He quickly stood and reached out a hand to his wife, saying "Come on, we have to move."

"What's going on?"

"Come on, there isn't much time. I'll explain to everyone at once."

Agreeing silently, the female duelist reached out her free hand and was hoisted to her feet by her husband. Quickly, the two joined the group of others duelists who were all up on their feet once more.

"Illidan, you did it!" Jaden exclaimed happily while Alexis clung to his right arm and a barely visible form of the demoness behind himself.

"Yeah, we'll celebrate later." Illidan commented. "For now, we haven't much time."

Earning the group's attention, he took a deep breath and quickly said "When Gozaburo was about to be defeated by me, he brought out The Orichalcos Stone. That's it floating back there."

The group took a quick glance and then heard the brown haired duelist add "As his last act of hate towards me, he told me that the stone would become unstable without his energy to keep it in check. Without someone keeping it's power stabilized, it'll explode. All the Duel Energy he and his minions had collected is still within the stone, and without him here to stabilize it, it will explode. The power within it is enough to blow away this dimension and everything within it."

All as one, the group let out gasps of shock. Quickly, before anyone could say anything, he added "But I have a plan to get us out of this. Yugi and Seto, I need you two to call out Timeaus and Critius. I'll call out Hermos."

Nodding, the spike haired duelist and the duelist in the white trench coat quickly drew their desired card from their decks and turned them away from their bodies. Joining them, the brown haired duelist did the same. The three cards glowed to life immediately, bringing forth the three knights that they spoke of.

"_Well done, Illidan Stormrage._" Hermos congratulated. "_You have destroyed the remnants of The Seal of Orichalcos._"

"_It is at last over._" Timeaus added.

"No time for that." Illidan interrupted. "The Orichalcos Stone, which housed the power of The Orichalcos, is about to explode. If it does, it'll take out this dimension. Can you three open a portal and get us out of here?"

Surprised at the words of the brown haired duelist, Critius quickly replied "_Yes, the three of us can open a portal to take all of you home, but how long do we have?_"

"Probably three to four minutes left before that thing goes boom. Gozaburo told me it would take about five minutes for it to destabilize."

Biting his lower lip, the green armored knight quietly mumbled "_To open a portal to Terra, the dimension all of you live in, it will take five minutes. There isn't enough time._"

"Why so long!?" Seto demanded.

"_Terra is protected by ancient barriers._" the red armored knight spoke up. "_They were put in place to keep creatures from jumping from dimension to dimension. It's much like the Realm of the Pharaoh, where only a Pharaoh can enter._"

"Just great…" Marie ground out while holding Arya. "Now what!?"

Remaining quiet for a moment, Illidan finally spoke up, saying "What if I stabilized the stone a bit. That could by us a little bit of time and allow you enough to open the portal. Would that work?"

"_In theory, yes, but the power necessary to keep the stone stabilized will be tremendous. After all, Dartz originally kept it in check, then Darcia, and finally Gozaburo Kaiba. I would be willing to wager it took a lot of his power to keep it stable._" Timeaus remarked.

Turning away from the group, the brown haired duelist ground out "It doesn't matter. Whatever it takes, I'll keep it from exploding. Get to work on the portal and open it as fast as possible."

"_Right!_" the three knights declared in unison. Moving away from the group, they formed a triangle among themselves and held out their arms. As one, the knights unleashed a stream of teal colored energy that met in the middle point between the three of them. A rift slowly opened and began to faintly shimmer while each knight continued to pour more energy out.

Moving out from behind the young brown haired duelist, the female demon with purple and white hair closed her eyes for a moment. Slowly, she reopened them as her body took solid form once more. Approaching the three knights, she stood in a gap and raised her own arms up and turned her hands towards the central point.

"_I'll help you three. It's the least I can do to return the favor to Illidan Stormrage for saving me from that idiot._"

Eyeing her warily for a moment, the three knights finally nodded in agreement. With that, the demoness released a burst of her own energy at the rift, seemingly help it form even faster.

Smirking at the actions of the demoness, Illidan pulled his Duel Disk off of his arm and turned to Jaden. Handing it to him, he said "Jaden, hold onto this for me. I'll be back to get it."

Receiving a nod of reply from the young duelist, Illidan turned away and began moving towards the large stone, only to hear his wife say "Wait Illidan, I'll come with you!"

"You hardly have the energy to help Marie." the brown haired duelist bluntly replied while coming to a stop. Turning around, he added "Everyone but myself and Zane are the only two with any energy left really. Zane has hardly any power to begin with, hence why I didn't ask him to help. If you come, you'll only be in the way and I can't guarantee I can protect you. Please, just wait with Arya. I'll be back, I promise."

Staring into her husband's eyes for a long moment, Marie moved forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, saying "You had better."

With her words spoken, she turned away with their daughter and walked back towards the group of duelists. Focusing his attention on the task ahead, the brown haired duelist turned away from the retreating form of his wife and continued on towards the large glowing stone that levitated above the ground.

Reaching the massive stone, the brown haired duelist looked it over. Using his senses, he began to examine it. "_It's just as Gozaburo said. The stone's energy has become unstable and will cause it to explode in a few minutes. Damn him for doing this._"

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Illidan drew his hands together before his body stretched them out towards the stone. Turning his palms towards the stone, he snapped his eyes open and let out a light grunt.

"_Still, no matter what, I can't allow him to succeed in getting rid of all of us. I won't let him have his way. I'll protect all of them, even if that means I have to make the ultimate sacrifice._"

Steeling his resolve, the brown haired duelist hardened his eyes and called up his Shadow Powers. A dark black glow immediately began forming around his palms while he held a throaty growl in his mouth. At long last, the black energy seemed to be formed well enough that he launched a beam of black energy straight at the stone. The stone sucked up the energy greedily in a flash and only seemed to continue crazing the dark energy of the brown haired duelist.

"_This might not be as easy as I thought. I'll have to be careful how much energy I give it._"

Continuing to pour out more of his Shadow Powers, the brown haired duelist grit his teeth while the stone continued to feed off of his energy. Not letting up, he inwardly groaned while the stone relentlessly took more of his power.

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Watching her husband with the others, Marie couldn't help but keep a look of concern on her face. The silent child in her arms felt it as well and let her know by clinging tightly to her mother's chest.

"Illidan…"

Feeling a gently hand land on her shoulder, the female duelist glanced over her left shoulder to find the spike haired young man beside of her. "Don't worry Marie, he can do this. I know it."

"I'm still worried Yugi." Marie quietly replied. "I can sense his power just steadily dropping. If he keeps that up, he'll run out before the portal opens I fear…"

"She's right." Seto spoke up from behind the pair, making them turn a glance towards him. "I know Illidan is strong, but even he doesn't have enough power to keep that thing from exploding."

Casting a worried look back at her husband, the brown haired young woman felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Sensing her mother's distress, the babe in her arms reached up and tugged on a few locks of her mother's hair, getting her attention.

Looking down at Arya, Marie saw her daughter staring intently back at her. Without warning, the child's hands began to glow black with energy, making the young woman a bit concerned. Suddenly, she began feeling the child's Shadow Powers flare up, but instead of harm her, they seemed to be flowing into her.

Not sure what the young child was doing, Yugi slowly began to ask "What is …", only to be cut off by Marie whispering "She's transferring some of her Shadow Powers to me. Arya must be able to sense the struggle Illidan is in, so she's trying to help him by giving her power to me."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Seto asked with concern visibly on his face.

Brow furrowing, the female duelist bit her lower lip, replying "A bit if the two people sharing their powers aren't in sync, but it seems Arya is perfectly in sync with me."

Another minute passed before the small child's eyes began to droop and her power output began to falter. It sputtered onwards for a few more moments before finally fading, causing the baby to seemingly pass out.

"Arya!" Marie asked nervously. Feeling her daughter's neck for a pulse, she found it quickly and let out a sigh of relief. Turning towards the Yugi and Seto, she quietly said "She's just asleep. I think she overdid it, but what she gave me was enough."

Reaching her daughter carefully to the duelist in the white trench coat, she said "Seto, please take care of her for me."

"Wait, I'm no…"

"You'll do fine." Marie firmly stated. Carefully, she transferred her sleeping daughter to Seto, who gently took her and held her to his body. Pulling her Duel Disk off, she handed it to the spike haired duelist, saying "Yugi, hold onto this for me till I get back."

Nodding his head, Yugi stonily replied "Come back with Illidan."

Offering a small smile, she replied "Don't worry, we'll definitely be back. Just hurry up with the portal."

Waving goodbye, the female duelist instantly rushed off towards the direction of her husband with determined eyes. "_Hold on Illidan, I'm coming!_"

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Grimacing inwards, the brown haired duelist closed one eye while trying to concentrate on the distribution of his Shadow Powers on the massive stone before himself. "_This thing just keeps taking my energy… Don't know how much longer I can keep this up._"

Without warning, a second stream of dark energy shot out at the large stone and joined in with the single one. Taking a glance over his right shoulder, Illidan couldn't help but gasp to see his wife standing there and was the one firing the second stream.

"Marie, what are you doing!? Get out of here! I told you you're in no shape to help me out right now! If you keep using up your energy, you'll run out and possibly…"

"Don't worry, I'm not out." Marie firmly declared. "Arya transferred all of her energy to myself. She sensed the desperate struggle you were in and gave all of her powers to me to use."

Once more in shock, the brown haired duelist quietly asked "Is she alright?"

"She's sleeping. It was a bit taxing on her to give up all her powers to me, but she'll be fine. At that, shouldn't we focus on the task at hand?"

Irritably, the brown haired duelist returned his gaze to the large stone that continued to suck up not only his energy, but his wife's as well. Reaching out with his senses, a small smirk played upon his lips.

"It's working. I can feel the stone starting to stabilize a bit. Not much, but enough to hopefully keep it from blowing up for another minute." Illidan announced.

Gritting her teeth, Marie replied "Good, because this is harder than I thought…"

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Casting a glance back at the large stone that the two humans were keeping in check, Yubel ground out "_Can't we hurry this up!?_"

"_You yourself should know this is not an easy task._" Timeaus remarked in an irritated tone.

"_I know that!_" the demoness spat in reply.

"_Concentrate more on the portal than talking then._" Critius chimed in.

About to sharply retort, the demoness bit her tongue to keep from saying anything. Putting all of her concentration into the portal before herself and the three knights, she called out more power to try and open it.

Staring at the shimmering portal attempting to open, the duelist turned his attention to the sleeping babe in his arms for a moment. She seemed to be in a deep sleep and unaware of the danger around them. Returning his attention to the portal, he saw that it was beginning to seemingly stabilize.

In a low grunt, each of the knights and the female demon calmed their breathing. Speaking up, the green armored knight announced "The portal is finished. All of you, you must hurry and return to your dimension."

The entire group nodded immediately, with the younger duelists first being ushered in. Soon, the only people left were Yugi, Seto with Arya in his arms, and both Illidan and Marie, who were still holding the large green stone in check.

Glancing from the pair still holding the stone's energy in check to the duelist in the white trench coat, Yugi called out "Seto, get Arya out of here. I'll go tell those two we need to go."

Seeing hesitation in his friend's eyes, the spike haired duelist firmly added "I'll be fine. Get her out of here."

"Right…" Seto muttered before turning away and walking into the shimmering portal.

Racing towards where the pair was holding off the destabilizing stone, the spike haired duelist came to a stop with ten feet between them and himself. Panting lightly he called out "Illidan, Marie, the portal is open. Let's go!"

Warily looking over his right shoulder, Illidan ground out "We're coming. Just go through!"

"Don't take too long! As soon as you come running, Timeaus and the others will close the portal." Yugi quickly replied.

"Understood." Marie answered.

With that, the spike haired duelist left the pair. Casting a sideways glance at his wife, the brown haired duelist noticed her fall to one knee while panting heavily.

"Marie, are you alright!?"

Wheezing a bit, she mumbled "I can't hold this much longer… Illidan, I… I just don't think I can make it to the portal. My body, it's far too exhausted. I'm so sorry…"

Keeping focus on the stone before himself while closing one eye halfway, the brown haired duelist sadly smirked, saying "I know… My body, it's about had it too. From what I can tell, if I stop stabilizing the stone, it'll blow before we could make it to the portal anyways."

"So what do we do?"

Earning herself a moment of silence, the female duelist sadly smiled, whispering "Illidan, I think I can hold the stone's power in check long enough for you to make a run for it, but you have to hurry."

"Don't be stupid, Marie. I know you don't have enough power to hold the stone's destabilization off." Illidan countered. Softening his tone, he added "Besides, I could never make it on my own to the portal. My body is in just a bad a shape as yours."

Biting her lower lip, Marie slowly asked "Then what we should we do?"

Not receiving an immediate response, she slightly smiled, saying "I guess I should have foreseen this. I had always wondered how our lives would end. Secretly, I've always wanted to be with you in the end. When I died in our last life, I know you suffered greatly after my death… I didn't want to go, but I had to. Still, this time, at least you won't…"

"Marie."

Stopping in mid-sentence, the female duelist glanced at her husband to see a sad smile playing upon his face. Slowly, he said "I've enjoyed my life with you. It's hard to believe that five millennia ago, we fell in love with one another, only to get a second chance at life once more in our new lives. I was so in love with you when I first met you, and that love was only solidified more when I found out about our past. It seemed to make everything in our lives connect together so much easier."

"Over the years, we've seen and done a lot together. I've always hated the fact that in the end, it always seems to be you that has suffered the most when enemies have come after me. Always you became their target because me, and even when I did my best, I couldn't protect you."

"Still, in the end, it was because of our love that I found the strength to save you and stop those that threatened not only you, but the world. I'm no hero to the world, I know that. All I've ever wanted was to be left alone and to live my life with you, away from all the dangers that were present, but fate is not so kind in that manner. Even though that was the case, I accepted the role I was handed, but even though I did so, my deepest and truest desire was to always just find peace within the world and to live my life with you."

Pausing for a moment, he added "We found that peace I desired for several years, and I was truly happy during that time. And when we came to Duel Academy, our lives seemed to be peaceful till finally a new darkness came about. Regardless of that, I was happy, and have enjoyed all of our time together. I can honestly say that my life has been happy and fulfilling. I've known the kind of love that so very few can ever feel."

"And because of that, I cannot allow you to perish. I love you too much to allow anything to harm you."

"What are you saying, Illidan?" Marie asked with confusion and worry on her face.

Closing his eyes for a moment, the brown haired duelist's body began to glow with a dark black aura. Gradually, he opened his eyes while gritting his teeth. Bit by bit, he moved his right arm away from his left and pointed it in the direction of his confused wife.

Letting out a low grunt while wincing, he cried out "Dark Magician of Chaos, I summon you!"

Materializing between both the brown haired duelist and his wife instantly was a blue skinned mage wearing black leather armor and held a staff in his hands. Fully formed, he turned his red colored eyes with yellow corneas towards the brown haired duelist.

"_Master Illidan…_"

"Dark Magician of Chaos, the end is near and before it comes, I have one last request for you that I ask you to fulfill for me."

Listening intently, the mage nodded, causing the brown haired duelist to continue on. "I want you to take Marie to the portal where the three knights and Yubel are. Take her through it."

"ILLIDAN, NOO, DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" Marie cried out. With her protesting, she nearly lost complete control of her powers, causing the stone to pulsate from the lack of the second host energy.

Ignoring his wife's words, Illidan quietly said "Please do this for me. It is my final request of you. Once you leave with her, you have only thirty seconds to get through. That's how long I think I can hold on."

Staring at his master with ruby colored eyes, the blue skinned mage couldn't help but feel tears welling up within his eyes. "_There must be another way…_"

"There is none! We have no more time left, so hurry and do this. I won't be able to hold out much longer. You must go now!"

Clenching his one empty hand, the mage slowly nodded his head and turned towards the young woman, who was barely able to keep her powers in check. Reaching out and grabbing hold, the mage threw her over his left shoulder, causing her powers to stop fueling the stone, making the brown haired young man grunt heavily from the extra power he began to lose.

"LET ME GO! ILLIDAN, MAKE HIM LET ME GO! ILLIDAN, ILLIDAN!!! PLEASE, DON'T DO THIS! I NEED YOU, PLEASE, DON'T!"

Paying no heed to the screams of the young woman slung over his shoulder, the mage gave one final glance back at the man he had called master for many years. Seeing a small smile on his master's face, the mage sadly nodded and sprinted towards the shimmering portal where the three knights and the demoness remained.

"Farewell, my love. I will never forget you. Be strong and live on with our daughter." Illidan whispered while taking one last glance over his shoulder at the fleeing mage with screaming wife.

Reaching the portal, the mage dashed through it without stopping. Seeing this, the three knights noted the lone young man stood before the stone. Hesitating for a moment, the knights and the demoness retreated through the portal, leaving the young man by himself.

Sadly smiling and glancing up at the sky, Illidan groaned from the strain of his powers beginning to fail. Quietly chuckling, he murmured "So this is how it ends. I guess it's alright. At least I know Marie, Arya, and all of my friends and family are safe. That's what matters."

Closing his eyes for the last time, the brown haired young man released the hold on his powers, allowing the stone's instability to accelerate. In his mind, the mental image of the woman he loved and his small daughter appeared. Smiling at the pair, he couldn't help but feel the warmth of their love wash over him just as the stone exploded.

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Checking on one another, the group of eight stared at the shimmering portal. Upon exiting it, they had found themselves in the place where they had entered the other dimension, which was a set of ancient ruins upon Duel Academy Island.

Without warning, a blue skinned mage carrying a young woman raced out of the portal and came to a skidding stop before the group. Not long afterwards, the three knights, along with the female demon, flew out from the portal. All at once, the portal wavered for a moment before closing completely.

Gently setting the young woman onto her feet, the mage couldn't help but see the tears falling down her face and heard her sobs beginning to pour out. Suddenly, she began slamming her fists into his chest, only to have him pull her closer to himself and encircle her in a warm embrace.

"What happened?" Jaden asked with confusion and worry in his voice. "Where is Illidan!?"

Not receiving an answer, the group couldn't help but feel uneasy. Eyes widening, the spike haired young man fell to his knees, whispering "No… Illidan, you didn't…"

"_He's… He's gone…_" the blue skinned mage whimpered out.

Breaking out of the mage's embrace, the young brown haired woman walked away about five feet to the place where the portal once stood. Falling to her knees, she began sobbing loudly while leaning forward and slamming her fists into the ground. In a loud, sad tone, she cried out "ILLIDAN!"


	62. Chapter 60: Understanding

**Hello again everyone! So, what's new in my life, well, I suppose I should start with the fact I'm still taking care of my dad's dog and 5 horses. Working with the horses hasn't gotten much easier, but I'm making it work. Their skin is starting to get better and the hair is finally beginning to grow back. I'm also slowly getting the older one, Fancy, to finally stay still for me while I work with her, which I'm very thankful. Other than that, the horses are doing well, so yay. My dad, step mom, and step brother all return either today or Tuesday this week, which I'll be thankful, though setting up for their return is a bit irritating. I have to take their car out to where they'll get back at, plus possibly go get my step mom's small dog. If I do that, I have to go out to their house, get one of their cars, then go get the dog, bring it to their home, then drive myself home again. So much hassle just to do stuff… Moving along, I went to the doctor last week and got a little help, which did nothing for me, so I went back on last Thursday. The doctor checked me out again and said she thinks I have been possibly having bronchial spasms, plus I may or may not have sleep acnea. I'm off to be tested for that one soon, which I may possibly have since both my mother and grandfather (mom's side) has it. Other than all that, I did get to go see Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen on Saturday. There are so many words to describe that moving, but I think one sets it all: awesome! I loved the movie. It was action packed, plus a bit of comedy here and there. My mate even enjoyed it, which surprised me, lol. She thought it would suck, but she changed her tune. If anyone has a chance to go see it, I'd definitely recommend it.**

**Writing wise, this chapter is in fact the end of **_**Minutes to Midnight**_**. With this story wrapping up, my Illidan and Marie series is complete. There will not be any other stories that relate to this series to be made. Honestly, this series has been a lot of fun to work on over the years. I remember back all those years ago when I finished **_**Tournament of Power**_**, only to have ideas for **_**The Wolves Seal**_** already. I had thought it would end there, but I decided to continue on the series through Yugioh GX with **_**Forgotten Guardians**_**, which is probably my finest work for the series I think. **_**Minutes to Midnight**_** came about after talking with ardee who came up with most of the concept for it. And now, at long last, the end is coming. In a lot of ways, I hate to see this series be put to bed, but at the same time, I feel a lot of happiness knowing that it did so well.**

**I'm sure a lot of you are pondering what I'll be doing from now on since this series is over and done with. For now, I plan on working on the sequel to my Inuyasha story, **_**Another**_**, entitled **_**Reunion**_**. It'll begin posting today also, just in case anyone wishes to read up on it. I also plan on working on a one-shot for GX called **_**Second Best**_**. That should be out sometime in the next month probably. As for writing more Yugioh or Yugioh GX fics, I don't know. I'm not sure if I will or not. That's just up in the air. I do plan on finishing my Inuyasha stories, plus my one-shot ideas. In essence, I'm far from done writing for those that thought I was going to just walk off into the sunset. Illidan the half demon has plenty of ideas left in his head and they will continue to be cranked out over the years.**

**And now, for the last time for this series, it's time for the reviews!**

**Genma no Ou: Lol, yes, Illidan's probably about everywhere after that explosion. The story is wrapping up this chapter, so yeah, everything is winding down. Heh, true, there isn't much more I could do with Illidan dead, though it could focus on Marie or another character. (/Hears yells to end it.\) Fine, spoilsports. But yes, it's almost over. True, I did kind of hate to kill off Illidan, but in the end, I think it'll work out. Thanks for your review!**

**The Rainwalker: Yeah, I got your email there last week. Sorry I didn't respond. I've been rather busy at work and home, so no time to really respond. Yeah, my Thursday a week ago was pretty bad, but I got over it. Anyways, yeah, Gozaburo's victims revived, only to nearly get blown away, lol. Yep, Illidan sacrificed himself so everyone could get away. I know, the story is kind of ending on a sad note, but there is this chapter to hopefully make things better. Actually, Illidan didn't sacrifice himself in his previous life for Marie. They lived to be rather old, with Marie dying first, only to be followed by Illidan after some time had passed. I'll run through the beginning again, but I don't remember seeing anything out of place last time. Thanks for your review!**

**The Duelist of Dawn: Yeah, it was a heck of a comeback for Illidan in that duel. Heh, yeah, it did kind of make me think of Yubel and Jaden's duel. Thanks for the review!**

**Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I have truly enjoyed reading each and every one of the reviews I've received on this series since the beginning. I hope that all of you have enjoyed my stories, for I have enjoyed writing them and sharing them with all of you. Thank you once more to everyone who has supported this series and read all of the Illidan and Marie series. It has meant a lot to me. Once more, thank you.**

**For the last time, I hope you all get to enjoy this chapter.**

**Chapter 60**

"That is what became of your father, Arya…" Yugi quietly said.

Sitting across from the spike haired man on a leather loveseat sat a young woman with mid-back length brown hair that had purple highlights running throughout it, soft chocolate eyes that were filled with tears, and a petit body build. She was dressed in a purple blouse and wore a pair of blue jeans.

Looking at the two men across from her on a matching leather couch, Arya remained silent for a moment while tears ran down her face. At last, she gathered herself up and asked with a touch of anger in her voice "Why didn't Momma tell me any of this?"

Opening and closing his mouth several times, the man wearing a white trench coat that had short brown hair, dark blue eyes that seemed somewhat hard but held softness within them, slowly replied "It was a request that we not speak of your father until you were old enough for us to tell you about him."

"But that's not fair Uncle Seto!" Arya protested. "My own mother hid my father from me for fifteen years of my life! I grew up not knowing the first thing about him other than he was dead, and for what!?"

Sobering a bit, she whimpered out "I didn't even know what kind of man he was. I always pondered what he was like, whether he was a kind and loving man, someone who got my mother pregnant and just left us, if he was abusive or a drunk, or if he even existed. Momma never told me a thing about him, other than he was dead. That's so unfair…"

Moving over and wrapping an arm around the shoulders of the young woman and pulling her against himself, Seto whispered "I know, it wasn't very fair to you, but your mother had her reasons."

"Arya, why don't I try and explain it to you." Yugi spoke up while scooting a bit closer on the couch he sat on. "You see Arya, you may be a bit young to understand this, but when two people fall in love, a special bond is formed between them. It's a bond that binds the two to one another. Some bonds are more special than others. Those bonds are usually between soul-mates."

Pausing for a moment, the spiked haired man slowly added "The bond your mother and father held, it was one of the most special bonds of love that I have ever seen. I'll admit that the love the two of them shared was far stronger than that of Tea and me. It's the kind of love that makes you strive to achieve. The bond the two of them formed five millennia was as strong, if not stronger, than ever in this lifetime. Of course they fought and argued like any couple, but you could tell how deeply in love each of them was with the other. It radiated off of them."

"A bond that strong has only a single weakness. If one of the two is killed, the other will suffer horribly due to the loss of that partner. That is what happened to your mother, Arya. When she lost your father, it gave her a mortal wound to her soul. Without your father, she was no longer complete."

In a quiet, calm voice, Seto spoke up, saying "When we got back from Dark World, your mother was devastated. She had lost the man she had loved with all of her heart and soul, and to lose him was like losing a piece of her own soul. It was too much for her to take and she had a mental breakdown. We waited a few days to see if she would get better, but she didn't."

"She hardly ate anything, never said a thing, and seemed to be lost to the world. Just seeing her like that was hard for all of us. In the end, after three days, I needed to return home, so I decided to take both Marie and yourself home with me so I could look after her."

"When we got back to Domino City, I gave you and your mother a floor within my penthouse. I don't think it mattered to her, since she was really unable to comprehend what was going on around herself. While your mother was like she was, I took it upon myself to take care of you."

Smiling slightly, the brown haired man remarked "You were a handful. I managed to take care of you, somehow."

Returning his expression to bland, Seto added "Six months passed by and your mother had still not recovered. She was deteriorating slowly towards death, and one day, I finally decided enough was enough."

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Standing in an elevator, Seto let out a ragged sigh. His clothing consisted of a black business suit with a red tie and he held a briefcase within his right hand. Reaching up, he loosened the tie around his neck and leaned back against the back wall and slowly slid his eyes shut.

"_Damn long meetings that do nothing but go in circles. It only figures that those idiots from that company presenting it's new ideas would have nothing really new to present me. I should just do myself a favor and buy out that crappy company and sell it off, lock, stock, and all._"

Once more sighing, he reopened his dark blue eyes just as the elevator reached his penthouse suite. Hearing a familiar ding of the elevator, he stepped out once the doors opened. Walking down the hallway to the front door of his home, he turned the knob and entered, only to hear the sound of a familiar crying baby.

Looking about, he found the source of the cry in the arms of another young man, who had long butt length black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, violet colored eyes, and wore a blue business suit with a yellow tie. The young man was holding the young child within his arms, rocking her back and forth in an attempt to calm her down.

"Sh, sh, sh, it's alright Arya. Don't cry little girl."

"Mokuba, what are you doing here?" Seto spoke up, earning the younger man's attention.

Giving a brief smile, Mokuba replied "Oh, hey there big brother. It's Tuesday, remember? I always come by today."

Running his free hand through his brown hair, the elder brother nodded, saying "I forgot what day it was. Why isn't Cathleen taking care of Arya?"

Processing the request for a moment, the younger man finally asked "Is that the nanny's name? I keep missing it when I come over so I had no idea. Anyways, she had to leave early due to a doctor's appointment. She was about to call someone else to come take care of Arya while she was gone until you got home, but I showed up and volunteered to take over."

"I see… Why didn't she speak with Marie and see if she would watch her?"

Hesitating for a moment, Mokuba slowly remarked "Seto, you know she's in no condition to really do anything."

"So I've noticed for the last six months. Ever since we've gotten back from Dark World, she's done nothing but mope around in her room and continues to mourn. She needs to let him go."

Sighing at the words of his brother, the younger man shifted the small child in his arms and replied "Seto, this is an age old argument. You have to remember, Marie just lost Illidan and has yet to recover from that loss."

"She'll never recover at this rate, Mokuba." Seto bluntly stated. "If she never tries to move forward, she will forever waste away like she is now. I won't let that happen."

Setting his briefcase down onto the ground, the older brother began trekking towards the stairwell that led to the next floor of the penthouse. Stopping before the stairs, he threw a glance over his shoulder at his younger brother and said "Stay with Arya. I'll be back."

"Seto, please, don't do this to her. She needs more time…"

"To what!?" Seto snapped while turning back towards his brother. "To waste away into nothingness and die because of the sadness in her heart!? I won't stand by idly and let her do that. I've let her have more than enough time to try and move on with her life, and damn it, she will move on. Dwelling on the pain will not help her."

Turning back around, the older brother began ascending the stairs to the second floor of his penthouse. Reaching it, he strolled towards a familiar door and knocked on it. Receiving no answer like always, he entered the room.

The room itself was painted white and had few decorations or pictures within it. The only few pictures that were there was a picture of a brown haired young man with his wife and another of the same couple and a small child in the young woman's arms. Within the room, there was a bed, two dressers, bookshelf, nightstand, a full length mirror, and a rocking chair that looked out the large glass window that was looking out the back wall to the city below.

Sitting in the rocking chair and seemingly oblivious to the entrance of her visitor was a young woman with brown hair, wearing a simple older style yellow kimono. She was sitting completely still, seemingly just staring out the window.

Walking up behind the rocking chair, Seto cleared his throat, asking "Marie?"

Receiving no answer like usual, he growled in irritation and grunted out "Let it go."

"Just leave me be."

Unperturbed by the quiet words of the young woman, the young man moved before her and looked her straight in the eye. Looking into them, he saw a pair of broken brown eyes seemingly filled with endless sadness.

"Marie, mourning his loss forever will not help you. You need to move on."

"Leave me alone, Seto." Marie repeated in a quiet tone.

Reaching out and grabbing her right hand, Seto growled out "Do you think this is really going to help you!? You can sit here and mourn Illidan's loss forever, but it won't bring him back. He's not coming back, Marie!"

Seeing the young woman physically flinch at his words, the young man added "Don't waste his sacrifice. He stayed behind and died so that both Arya and you could live. He wanted the two of you to be happy, I know that for certain within my heart. Never did Illidan want you to suffer as much as you have for the last six months."

Looking back at the young man with anger and tears in her eyes, the young woman stood and venomously snarled out "JUST SHUT UP! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH AND HOW MUCH I'M SUFFERING! YOU, THE MAN WHO KNOWS NOTHING OF LOVE, COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH PAIN I'M IN! I'M SUFFERING NOW BECAUSE OF THOSE TIES I HAD TO HIM! HOW ON EARTH COULD YOU EVER UNDERSTAND HOW IT FEELS TO LOSE ALL THAT! GET OUT!"

"I'm not leaving."

"I SAID GET OUT!"

Not backing down, Seto responded evenly "It's true, I have no idea what it's like to find the kind of love that you and Illidan shared… But do you honestly think that by slowly killing yourself will ease the pain in your heart? I may not understand the pain you're suffering through, but I do understand the pain of watching a friend of mine slowly dying. Marie, all that Illidan did, he did for you and his daughter. Are you going to waste his sacrifice by leaving this world too and leaving behind your only child to be raised by people who truly aren't her parents?"

Eyes widening a fraction, the young woman looked down at the ground. Reaching out and cupping her cheek and raising her face back to look up at him, the young man calmly said "I don't want to see you suffer this way any longer Marie. Living in the past and suffering from what happened in it is not healthy. You must move forward, but to do that, you must let go of your sadness."

"I don't know how…" Marie miserably whimpered while fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "I just don't know how to move forward. Everything I do or think about, I remember something from when I was with Illidan, and then, then…"

"It will take time, and most likely, you'll have to live one day at a time." Seto remarked while reaching up and wiping the tears away. "I'm not saying you should forget him altogether. All that I'm saying is you need to put his loss behind you and move forward, if not for your sake, but for Arya's sake. She still needs her mother."

Looking into the dark blue eyes of the brown haired young man before her, Marie suddenly threw herself around him and began sobbing loudly into his right shoulder. A touch shocked at the sudden contact, Seto reached his arms around her and gently stroked her back.

Finally settling after five minutes, the young woman pulled away and reached up to her face and wiped her tears away. "You're right, Seto. Arya needs me, and I need her just as much. I've been a fool…"

"Only a fool would continue down the path you had begun." the young man quipped. Cracking a soft smile, he added "You should go see her."

Nodding mutely, the young woman softly smiled and whispered "Thank you."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"After that, your mother no longer suffered like she did, but it was clear she would never recover into the person she once was. No, who she is now is but a shadow of her former self when your father once lived. She has made great strides in recovering from the loss of him, but she will most likely never be the same Marie I met over twenty-five years ago."

Absorbing the information the brown haired man had told her, the young woman slowly said "But that still doesn't explain why no one ever mentioned my father to me."

Nodding, Seto replied "Well, my story was building up to that. Your mother slowly recovered over the next few months, but she then called all of her friends and family together one day. In the meeting, she asked that all of us never speak of Illidan in front of you."

"But why!?" Arya protested. "Did she think I would get angry or drown in sadness like her?"

Placing a hand onto the shoulder of his goddaughter, the spike haired duelist sadly smiled and shook his head. "No, your mother wasn't worried about that. The reason she swore all of us into secrecy was to protect herself."

"What do you mean?"

"She did it to protect herself. Remember, losing your father was very painful for her. Marie was afraid that if you asked her about Illidan, she would not be able to handle it and would slip back into the abyss of her pain. To ensure that didn't happen, she swore us all to secrecy so that no one would tell you about your father."

Processing her godfather's words, the young woman quietly mumbled "It's still not fair. She had no right to keep this from me…"

Cutting in, Seto coolly said "Arya, your mother did what she thought was best for you. She also did this so you would grow up with a mother who could be functional and not drop off of the face of the earth in the blink of an eye. She didn't want to ever abandon you in that way, or have you see her like that."

"I guess I understand… Still, it's just that..."

"You're hurt that she hid it from you." Yugi finished.

Receiving a nod of reply from his goddaughter, the spike haired man let out a small sigh and replied "I figured you would be by her actions. Still, you should know, all that she did, she did to try and make it possible to stay with you."

Standing up, the brown haired man walked behind the leather couch and picked up a good sized box that was tied shut with a single pink ribbon. Walking back around, he handed it to the young woman, saying "Your mother wanted us to give you this after explaining everything to you. She said it would help, she hoped."

Looking at the box for a moment, the young woman slowly nodded and took it into her hands. Carefully, she undid the ribbon and pulled the top off of the box. Inside, there was a Duel Disk with a deck within it, plus a card and a letter sitting on top of the Duel Disk. Curious, Arya picked up the letter first and opened it. Unfolding it, she slowly began to read it silently to herself, almost immediately recognizing the handwriting of her mother.

"_My dearest daughter, Arya,_

_I am truly sorry for hiding all signs of your father for the last fifteen years. I know though I say this, it will never change what I did to you. It's because of me that a portion of your heritage was not shown to you. Please don't be too hard on everyone that is our family and friends. I swore them into secrecy and they were only obeying my wishes._

_I'm sure you are curious to why I did what I did. Years ago, when I made the decision to swear everyone into secrecy, it seemed to make so much more sense. Looking back now, I realize how wrong I was. The reason I made all of my friends and family take such an oath was for my own selfish desires. I had finally managed to get over the loss of your father, but I was constantly reminded of him._

_The most profound remembrance was when both you and I were out when you were still under a year old. We had walked into a toy store where I was going to buy you something for your first birthday when I spotted a stuffed white and gray wolf that had blue eyes. When I saw it, I broke down crying in the middle of the store. Several people came to check on me, but I couldn't do or say anything. An ambulance was called for us and we were taken to a nearby hospital, where Seto managed to catch up with us. After several hours, I finally regained my composure and told him exactly what had happened. That stuffed wolf I had seen, it was the same type of stuffed wolf that your father had given me when we were still dating many years prior. Just seeing it had plunged me back into the sadness in my heart once more. It was then that I realized that just the slightest mention of your father had a great effect on me, so I made my choice then. I decided that I would simply not venture out into public too often, and if and when I did, I would not go to places your father and I had gone to. I also swore all of my friends and family into secrecy so that your father's name would not be mentioned. This was to ensure that nothing would cause me to suddenly have a breakdown once more and that I could always be with you._

_In all truthfulness, what I did to you was beyond cruel, and for that, I deeply regret it, but you must understand one thing my precious daughter. The love I had for your father was much deeper and stronger than anything I had ever experienced in either of my lives. He was the reason I could do anything that I put my mind to. Your father was my soul-mate and the one man that I yearned to always be with. I never ventured away from him. He was the one and only one that ever could make me feel happy and like I had a place within the world. When he met his untimely demise, my heart was crushed beyond recognition. Just the sheer loss of your father nearly drove me insane with sorrow. Losing him was like losing a portion of my soul, and to be completely honest, I have yet to ever recover from that. Illidan was my life and the once in a lifetime love that you never forget. I suppose it's just ironic in a way. In our previous lives five millennia ago, it was I that left him behind to live on, and now it is my turn._

_I won't lie to you my daughter, some days I wish I had died hand in hand with your father in that dreadful dimension. It was one of my desires to die with him. Your father knew it in the end, and maybe, just maybe that is why he did what he did. He was wise beyond his years and knew that if I had died with him, no one would be left to take care of you. Illidan knew my past and how it was to grow up without parents. In both of our lifetimes, we lost our parents early on. Still, he had no desire to allow that to happen to you, so he saved me. I hated him for taking away my last wish for the longest time, but I came to realize soon enough why he did what he did. He saved me so that both you and I could live on. Illidan always wanted what was best for the two of us. He never wanted either of us to suffer, and looking back, I see that your father had the best of intentions that day. It would have been too painful for him to die knowing that he had not only failed to save himself, but failed to save you from a life of having no parents. That's why he did what he did I believe._

_I want you to know one thing for certain. No matter what happens from here on, I want you to know that I love you very much and that I am very proud of you, Arya. For all that you have been through, you continue to keep moving forward, and for that, I am thankful. I know one day, you will find love yourself. I'm sure if you father was still alive, he would grimace at the thought of any boy trying to date you, but I know in the end, he would get over it. Daughter, I am so happy that you have grown to be such a kind hearted young woman. Your attitude and desires remind me so much of your father, and I am constantly reminded by your drive and attitude of how he was. He always found the strength to do the impossible. Illidan always encouraged me to take a chance and to do the impossible, even when all the odds were against me. If it's one thing I learned from him, it is to never give up on those that you love and care about, and to never surrender in the face of insurmountable odds. He was one to never do so, even when faced with the possibility of death as an outcome. It is those traits that I see within you, my beloved daughter, which makes me believe that the darkest sadness can be lifted with just your smile._

_Of all the things I have done in my life, my deepest regret was hiding the truth from you. You deserved to know about your father, and for hiding that, I am truly sorry. I don't know if you can, but I ask that you look within your heart to find a way to forgive me. Even if you cannot do so, I understand, but know that I will always love you and be here for you until the end of my days. Also, tonight, when you come home, if you have any questions on your father, or wish to just know what kind of man he was, please just ask. I will tell you all that I can. I owe you that much for certain._

_Arya, my precious daughter, I will always love you and be proud of you, no matter the outcome of your life. Just know that I have always tried to shelter you from harm and though I was foolish to hide the truth of your father, know that I only did so to protect you from myself. I never wanted you to see what would become of me if I had plunged back into the deep pool of sadness again. I only pray that you have compassion and accept me for what I am still. I promise, from now on, no more secrets. The time for hiding things is over._

_In this box, you find a special birthday present and a card that I had no idea existed till thirteen years ago. It is something I suspect will bring much happiness. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your birthday, and I look forward to seeing you when you return home tonight._

_Your loving mother,_

_Marie_"

Folding the letter shut, the young woman couldn't help but realize tears were streaming down her cheeks. Finding a box of tissues before herself, being held by her godfather, she gladly took a few and wiped her tears away. Sniffling, she sadly smiled and whispered "I understand…"

Setting the letter to the side, she reached out and took hold of the card on top of the Duel Disk. Opening it carefully, she pulled out with a puzzled look. On the front of the card, it read "Happy 1st Birthday!" with the image of multi-colored balloons. Frowning, she opened the card only to gasp at the writing within.

"_To my wonderful daughter,_

_I hope you enjoy your first birthday my special little girl. Even though you won't be able to read this since you are still only a one year old, you are growing up fast and will one day be able to. Every day with you is pure bliss. Know that I will always love you and be thinking of you._

_Love your father, Illidan_"

"_That handwriting, it's most definitely not Momma's! Could it really have been his…_"

Looking over the shoulder of the young woman, Seto couldn't help but inwardly gasp at the sight of the card. "_That's the card she found when she went back to Duel Academy. It was the last thing Illidan left behind._"

Glancing up at the brown haired man with tears in her eyes, Arya asked "Is this really my father's handwriting?"

"It is, Arya." Seto confirmed. "Your mother found that about thirteen years ago when she went back to Duel Academy to clean out the home where your parents and you lived shortly before going to Dark World. While there, she came across that birthday card you father had apparently bought for you before all the trouble began at the school. He had a habit of sometimes forgetting things, so he tried to usually do things ahead of time. I guess that was one of those things."

Mutely nodding, the young woman sadly smiled and set the card down with the letter she had read through. Reaching out to the box, she gently pulled the Duel Disk that sat in it out and looked it over, only to find a small label on it reading "Property of Illidan Stormrage." Gasping at the label, the young woman couldn't help but weakly smile while running her fingers over the worn out label. Setting the Duel Disk down, she found in it's deck slot a deck.

Carefully, Arya pulled the deck out and fanned it out in her hands. Staring at the revealed cards, she couldn't help but break down into tears once more. Frowning at the state of his distressed goddaughter, Yugi came up behind her to look at the cards himself, only to let out a shocked gasp.

"Those are…"

"The cards you told me about, that my father had." Arya finished. Sifting through the top four cards, she sadly smiled, saying "These are the Chaos monsters that were once his."

Moving through a few more cards, she suddenly stopped with a frown on her face. Noting this, Seto moved closer to find the reasoning behind her frown. It was due to the card of a dark orange dragon that she had pulled out and looking at closely.

With a frown on her face still, the young woman said "This card, it's Momma's. I recognize it anywhere. Why did she put Tyrant Dragon within my father's deck?"

Still unsure of what to make of the strange card in the deck, she continued to sift through it, finding even more cards that she didn't recognize in the description of her father's deck.

"I see what she did." Yugi commented with a small smile, earning his goddaughter's attention. "Your mother must have taken both her deck and your father's deck and merged the two together to create a new deck for you. It's truly a unique deck, and from what I can tell, the two complement one another rather nicely."

Reaching out for the deck that the young woman had, the brown haired man waited for her to hand it to him. Taking it, he began sifting through the cards and couldn't help but crack a small smirk.

"She took the best of her deck and the best of his deck and meshed them into one. It seems you have a very powerful deck, Arya. It's one I would bet could take on any other deck."

Smiling brightly, Arya asked "Really? Do you think I could possibly join the Pro League?"

"Once you finish up with your schooling, we'll talk about it." Yugi commented with a small smile on his face. Reaching out, he drew the young woman into a hug and kissed the top of her head, saying "We're all very proud of you, Arya."

Blushing a bit, she mumbled in reply "Thanks…"

Releasing his hold, the spike haired young man backed away while the brown haired one moved forward, and in a rare display of emotion, he pulled the young woman into a gentle embrace. Holding on for a few moments, he soon let go and cracked a small smile himself.

"You've grown up so much." Seto remarked.

Once more blushing a bit, Arya replied 'Thanks…"

"Arya, Yoshi is downstairs waiting if you want to go duel her. She brought her deck and Duel Disk with her."

Brightening a bit, the young woman nodded, saying "I would like that."

Gathering up the cards she had been examining, she shuffled them together and placed them into the deck slot of the Duel Disk and proceeded to strap it onto her left arm. Picking up the letter and card she had read, she placed it into the empty box and put the lid back on top of it.

Hesitantly, she asked "Can I leave this here?"

"Of course you can. It'll be here when you get back." the brown haired man stated.

Nodding with a small smile, the young woman began to leave, only to stop at the door and turn back to look at the two men, asking "Aren't you two coming?"

"In a few minutes. Go ahead on down." Yugi assured her.

"Alright, don't take too long slow pokes." Arya playfully teased before leaving the room.

Alone, the two men looked at one another before hearing the sounds of soft footsteps coming towards them. Glancing over their shoulders, the pair saw an older woman with brown hair that was starting to get streaks of silver within it walk into the room. Arriving five feet behind them, she watched the pair turn to face her.

"How did it go?" she softly asked.

Rubbing the back of his head, Yugi weakly smiled, saying "It went better than I figured. She really liked the fact that you gave her Illidan's old Duel Disk and a deck created from cards of both his and your old decks."

"Are you alright with all this, Marie?" Seto asked with concern in his voice.

Softly smiling back, Marie glanced towards the door and quietly responded "I'm fine with it. I think it's time that she knew how much I cared about her father. For fifteen years, that sweet child has had to suffer without any knowledge of her father, other than he died. It wasn't fair to her, but I think she understands a bit now. I only hope she can one day forgive me for that."

Placing a kind hand on her shoulder, Yugi gave her a sympathetic smile and said "She understands, Marie. We're just concerned, will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, I don't plan to ever slip back into that darkness."

Widening her smile, Marie mentally mumbled "_You would be so proud of her, Illidan. I miss you so terribly, but even so, life will continue on. Just know that one day, I'll be with you again, and until then, I will forever cherish the memories we had._"

"_One day a great love shall be reborn._"

Hearing the same words she had heard Illidan speak to her once more, Marie couldn't help but feel tears welling up in her eyes. Sadly smiling, she whispered "_One day, we will find one another again love. Until then, I will watch over our daughter and try to live the life you wanted me to._"


End file.
